Class 

Book 

Gopyright^N? 

CflEffilGHT DEPOSIT. 



Wliy Pour 
Gospels ? 



ARTHUR W. PINK 



BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT 

PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS 
SWENGEL, PA. 



COPYRIGHT 
1921 

I21LE TRUTH DEPOT 
S WEN GEL, PA, 



DEC 21 1921 



g)C!.A830943 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Foreword 5 

Introduction 7 

Matthew's Gospel : 25 

The Gospel of Mark 59 

The Gospel of Luke . 87 

The Gospel of John 131 

Conclusion 171 



FOREWORD. 



It is now upwards of twelve years since the writer first 
read Mr. Andrew Jukes' book on the Gospels, wherein he so 
ably outlined the various characters, in which the four Evan- 
gelists, severally, present the Lord Jesus Christ. Since then 
we have continued, with ever increasing delight, to trace out 
for ourself, the various features which are peculiar to each 
Gospel. 

It has been our privilege to give a series of Bible readings 
on the design and scope of the Gospels, to various companies, 
both in England and in this country; and many have been 
the requests for us to publish them in book form. We have 
hesitated to do this, because Mr. Jukes, fifty years ago, had 
already dealt with this subject with better success than we 
could hope to achieve. Since his day, a number of others 
have written upon the same theme, though not with the same 
perspecuity and helpfulness. Really, Mr. Jukes covered 
the ground so thoroughly (at least in its broad outlines) that 
for any later writer who would present anything approach- 
ing a bird's-eye view of the four Gospels, it was well-nigh 
impossible to avoid going over much of the ground covered 
by the original pioneer, and repeating much of what he first, 
under God, set forth to such good effect. It is only because 
Mr. Jukes' work is unknown to many whom we hope to 
reach, that we now present these studies to the Christian 
public. We have worked diligently on the subject for our- 
self, and have sought to thoroughly assimilate that which we 
received first from the writing of the above mentioned, 
while adding, also, our own findings. 

In sending forth this little book, much of which has been 
gathered up from the labors of another, we are reminded of 
the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, his son in the 
faith: "And the things that thou hast heard of me among 
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men" 
(2 Tim. 2 :2). And again: "But continue thou in the things 



6 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS! 



which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing 
of whom thou hast learned them" (2 Tim. 3:14). 

We are fully assured that there is very much in the four 
Gospels which manifest the Divine perfections and distinc- 
tive beauties of each one, which has not yet been brought 
forth by those who have sought to explore their inexhaustible 
depths; that there is here a wide field for diligent research, 
and that those who will pursue this study, prayerfully, for 
themselves, will be richly rewarded for their pains. May it 
please God to stir up an increasing number of His people to 
"search" this portion of His holy Word which reveal, as 
nowhere else, the excellencies of His blessed Son, which were 
so signally displayed by Him during the years that He tab- 
ernacled among men. 

Arthur W. Pixk, 
1921. Swengbl, Pa- 



INTRODUCTION 
WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



^«CVHY four Gospels? It seems strange that 
§ (§ \l suc ^ a question needs to be asked at this late 
date. The New Testament has now been in 
the hands of the Lord's people for almost two thou- 
sand years, and yet, comparatively few seem to grasp 
the character and scope of its first four books. No 
part of the Scriptures has been studied more wide- 
ly than have the four Gospels: innumerable sermons 
have been preached from them, scores of commen- 
taries have been written upon them, and every two or 
three years sections from one of the Gospels is as- 
signed as the course for study in our Sunday Schools. 
Yet, the fact remains, that the peculiar design and 
character of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is 
rarely perceived even by those most familiar with 
their contents. 

Why four Gospels? It does not seem to have oc- 
curred to the minds of many to ask such a question. 
That we have four Gospels which treat of the earth- 
ly ministry of Christ is universally accepted, but as 
to why we have them, as to what they are severally 
designed to teach, as to their peculiar characteristics, 
as to their distinctive beauties — these are little dis- 
cerned and even less appreciated. It is true that 
each of the four Gospels has much in common to 
all : each of them deals with the same period of his- 
tory, each sets forth the teaching and miracles of the 
Saviour, each describes His death and resurrection. 
But while the four Evangelists have much in com- 



10 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS! 



mon, each has much that is peculiar to himself, and 
it is in noting their variations that we are brought 
to see their true meaning and scope and to appreci- 
ate their perfections. Just as a course in architecture 
enables the student to discern the subtle distinctions 
between the Ionic, the Gothic, and the Corinthian 
styles — distinctions which are lost upon the un- 
instructed; or, just as a musical training fits one to 
appreciate the grandeur of a master-production, the 
loftiness of its theme, the beauty of its chords, the 
variety of its parts, or its rendition — all lost upon the 
un-initiated ; so the exquisite perfections of the four 
Gospels are unnoticed and unknown by those who 
see in them nothing more than four biographies of 
Christ. 

In carefully reading through the four Gospels it 
soon becomes apparent to any reflecting mind that 
in none of them, nor in the four together, do we 
have anything approaching a complete biography 
of our Saviour's earthly ministry. There are great 
gaps in His life which none of the Evangelists pro- 
fess to fill in. After the record of His infancy, noth- 
ing whatever is told us about Him till He had 
reached the age of twelve, and after the brief record 
which Luke gives of Christ as a boy in the Temple 
at Jerusalem, followed by the statement that His 
parents went to Nazareth and that there He was 
"subject unto them" (Luke 2), nothing further is 
told us about Him until He had reached the age of 
thirty. Even when we come to the accounts of His 
public ministry it is clear that the records are but 
fragmentary; the Evangelists select only portions of 
His teachings and describe in detail but a few of His 
miracles. Concerning the full scope of all that was 
crowded into His wonderful life, John gives us some 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



11 



idea when he says. "And there are also many other 
things which Jesus did, the wilich, if they should be 
written every one, I suppose that even the world it- 
self could not contain the books that should be writ- 
ten" (John 21:25). 

If then the Gospels are not complete biographies 
of Christ, what are they? The first answer must be, 
Four books inspired, fully inspired, of God; four 
books written by men moved by the Holy Spirit; 
books that are true, flawless, perfect. The second 
answer is that, the four Gospels are so many books, 
each complete in itself, each of which is written with 
a distinctive design, and that which is included in its 
pages, and all that is left out, is strictly subordinated 
to that design, according to a principle of selection. 
In other words, nothing, whatever is brought into any 
one of the Gospels save that which was strictly 
relevent and pertinent to its peculiar theme and sub- 
ject, and all that was irrel event and failed to il- 
lustrate and exemplify its theme was excluded. The 
same plan of selection is noticeable in every section 
of the Holy Scriptures. 

Take Genesis as an example. Why is it that the 
first two thousand years of history are briefly out- 
lined in its first eleven chapters, and that the next 
three hundred years is spread out over thirty-nine 
chapters? Why is it that so very little is said about 
the men who lived before the Flood, whereas the 
lives of Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Joseph are 
described in such fulness of detail? Why is it that 
the Holy Spirit has seen well to depict at greater 
length the experiences of Joseph in Egypt than He 
devoted to the Account of Creation? Take, again, 
the later historical books. A great deal is given us 
concerning the varied experiences of Abraham's de- 



12 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



scendants, but little notice is taken of the mighty 
Nations which were contemporaneous with them. 
Why is it that Israel's history is described at such 
length, and that of the Egyptians, the Hittites, the 
Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks, is almost 
entirely ignored? The answer to all of these ques- 
tions is that, the Holy Spirit selected only that 
which served the purpose before Him. The purpose 
of Genesis is to explain to us the origin of that Na- 
tion which occupies so prominent a place in the Old 
Testament Scriptures, hence, the Holy Spirit hur- 
ries over, as it were, the centuries before Abraham 
was born, and then proceeds to describe in detail the 
lives of the fathers from which the Chosen Nation 
sprang. The same principle obtains in the other 
books of the Old Testament. Because the Holy Spir- 
it is there setting forth the dealings of God with Is- 
rael, the other great nations of antiquity are largely 
ignored, and only come into view at all as they di- 
rectly concerned the Twelve-Tribed people. So it is 
in the four Gospels: each of the Evangelists was 
guided by the Spirit to record only that which served 
to set forth Christ in the particular character in 
which He was there to be viewed, and that which 
was not in keeping with that particular character 
was left out. Our meaning will become clearer as 
the reader proceeds. 

Why four Gospels? Because one or two was not 
sufficient to give a perfect presentation of the varied 
glories of our blessed Lord. Just as no one of the 
Old Testament typical personages (such as Isaac or 
Joseph, Moses or David) give an exhaustive fore- 
shadowment of our Lord, so, no one of the four Gos- 
pels presents a complete portrayal of Christ's mani- 
fold excellencies. Just as no one or two of the five 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



13 



great offerings appointed by God for Israel (see Lev. 
1 — 6) could, by itself, represent the many-sided sac- 
rifice of Christ, so no one, or two, of the Gospels 
could, by itself, display fully the varied relationships 
which the Lord Jesus sustained when He was here 
upon earth. In a word, the four Gopels set Christ 
before us as filling four distinct offices. We might 
illustrate it thus. Suppose I was to visit a strange 
town in which there was an imposing city-hall, and 
that I was anxious to convey to my friends at home 
the best possible idea of it. What would I do? I 
would use my camera to take four different pictures 
of it, one from each side, and thus my friends would 
be able to obtain a complete conception of its struc- 
ture and beauty. Now that is exactly what we have 
in the four Gospels. Speaking reverently, we may 
say that the Holy Spirit has photographed the Lord 
Jesus from four different angles, viewing Him in 
four different relationships, displaying Him as per- 
fectly discharging the responsibilities of four differ- 
ent offices. And it is impossible to read the Gos- 
pels intelligently, to understand their variations, to 
appreciate their details, to get out of them what we 
ought, until the reader learns exactly from which 
angle each separate Gospel is viewing Christ, which 
particular relationship Matthew or Mark shows Him 
to be discharging, which office Luke or John shows 
Him to be filling. 

The four Gospels alike present to us the person 
and work of our blessed Saviour, but each one views 
Him in a distinct relationship, and only that which 
served to illustrate the separate design which each 
Evangelist had before him found a place in his Gos- 
pel; everything else which was not strictly germane 
to his immediate purpose was omitted. To make 



14 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



this still more simple we will use another illustra- 
tion. Suppose that today four men should under- 
take to write a "life" of ex-president Roosevelt, and 
that each one designed to present him in a different 
character. Suppose that the first should treat of his 
private and domestic life, the second deal with him 
as a sportsman and hunter of big game, the third 
depict his military proivess and the experiences he 
had while in the army, while the fourth traced his 
political and presidential career. Now it will be seen 
at once that these four biographers while writing of 
the life of the same man would, nevertheless, view 
him in four entirely different relationships. More- 
over, it will be evident that these biographers would 
be governed in the selection of their material by the 
particular purpose each one had before him: each 
would include only that which was germane to his 
own specific viewpoint, and for the same reason 
each would omit that which was irrelevent. For in- 
stance: suppose it was known that Mr. Roosevelt, as 
a boy, had excelled in gymnastics and athletics 
which of his biographers would mention this fact? 
Clearly, the second one, who was depicting him as a 
sportsman. Suppose that as a boy Mr. Roosevelt had 
frequently engaged in fistic encounters, which one 
would make mention of it? Evidently, the one who 
was depicting his military career, for it would serve 
to illustrate his fighting qualities. Again, suppose 
that when a college-student Mr. R. had displayed an 
aptitude for debating, which biographer would refer 
to it? The fourth, who was treating of his political 
and presidential life. Finally, suppose that from 
youth upwards, Mr. R. had manifested a marked 
fondness for children, which of his biographers 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



15 



would refer to it? The first, for he is treating of the 
ex-president's private and domestic life. 

The above example may serve to illustrate what 
we have in the four Gospels. In Matthew, Christ is 
presented as the Son of David, the King of the Jews, 
and everything in his narrative centers around this 
truth. This explains why the first Gospel opens 
with a setting forth of Christ's royal genealogy, and 
why in the second chapter mention is made of the 
journey of the wise men from the East, who came to 
Jerusalem inquiring "Where is He that is born 
King of the Jews?", and why in chapters five to sev- 
en we have what is known as "The Sermon on the 
Mount" but which, in reality, is the Manifesto of the 
King, containing an enunciation of the Laws of His 
Kingdom. 

In Mark, Christ is depicted as the Servant of Je- 
hovah, as the One who though equal with God made 
Himself of no reputation and "took upon Him the 
form of a servant." Everything in this second Gos- 
pel contributes to this central theme, and everything 
foreign to it is rigidly excluded. This explains why 
there is no genealogy recorded in Mark, why Christ 
is introduced at the beginning of His public min- 
istry (nothing whatever being told us here of His 
earlier life), and why there are more miracles (deeds 
of service) detailed here than in any of the other 
Gospels. 

In Luke, Christ is set forth as the Son of Man, as 
connected with but contrasted from the sons of men, 
and everything in the narrative serves to bring this 
out. This explains why the third Gospel traces His 
genealogy back to Adam, the first man, (instead of 
to Abraham only, as in Matthew), why as the per- 
fect Man He is seen here so frequently in prayer, 



16 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



and why the angels are seen ministering to Him, in- 
stead of commanded by Him as they are in Mat- 
thew. 

In John, Christ is revealed as the Son of God, and 
everything in this fourth Gospel is made to illustrate 
and demonstrate this Divine relationship. This ex- 
plains why in the opening verse we are carried back 
to a point before time began, and are shown Christ 
as the Word "in the beginning," with God, and 
Himself expressly declared to be God; why we get 
here so many of His Divine titles, as "The only be- 
gotten of the Father," the "Lamb of God," the 
"Light of the world" etc. ; why we are told here that 
prayer should be made in His Name, and w T hy the 
Holy Spirit is here said to be sent from the Son as 
well as from the Father. 

It is a remarkable fact that this fourfold presenta- 
tion of Christ in the Gospels was specifically indi- 
cated through the Old Testament seers. Conspicu- 
ous among the many prophecies of the Old Testa- 
ment are those which spoke of the coming Messiah 
under the title of "the Branch." From these we may 
select four which correspond exactly with the man- 
ner in which the Lord Jesus is looked at, respective- 
ly, in each of the four Gospels: — 

In Jer. 23:5 we read, "Behold, the days come, 
saith the Lord, that I will raise unto DAVID a 
righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and pros- 
per, and shall execute judgment and justice in the 
earth." These words fit the first Gospel as glove 
fits hand. 

In Zech. 3:8 we read, "Behold, I will bring forth 
My Servant the Branch." These words might well 
be taken as a title for the second Gospel. 

In Zech. 6:12 we read, "Behold the Man whose 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



17 



name is the Branch/' How accurately this cor- 
responds with Luke's delineation of Christ needs not 
to be pointed out. 

In Isaiah 4:2 we read, "In that day shall the 
Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious." 
Thus, this last quoted of these Messianic predic- 
tions, which spoke of the Coming One under the fig- 
ure of "the Branch," tallies exactly with the fourth 
Gospel, which portravs our Saviour as the Son of 
God. 

But, not only did Old Testament prophecy antici- 
pate the four chief relationships which Christ sus- 
tained on earth, the Old Testament types also fore- 
shadowed this fourfold division. In Gen. 2 :10 we 
read "And a river went out of Eden to water the 
garden : and from thence it was parted, and became 
into four heads." Note carefully the words "from 
thence." In Eden itself "the river" was one, but 
"from thence" it "was parted" and became into four 
heads. There must be some deeply hidden mean- 
ing to this, for why tell us how many "heads" this 
river had? The mere historical fact is without inter- 
est or value for us, and that the Holy Spirit has 
condescended to record this detail prepares us to look 
beneath the surface and seek for some mystical 
meaning. And surely that is not far to seek. "Eden" 
suggests to us the Paradise above: the "river" which 
"watered" it, tells of Christ who is the Light and 
Joy of Heaven. Interpreting this mystic figure, 
then, we learn that in Heaven Christ was seen in one 
character only — "The Lord of Glory" — but just as 
when the "river" left Eden it was parted and be- 
came "four heads" and as such thus watered the 
earth, so, too. the earthly ministry of the Lord Je- 



IS 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



sus has been, by the Holy Spirit, "parted into four 
heads" in the Four Gospels. 

Another Old Testament type which anticipated 
the fourfold division of Christ's ministry as record- 
ed in the four Gospels may be seen in Ex. 26:31, 32, 
"And thou shalt make .a vail of blue, and purple, 
and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: 
with cherubim shall it be made. And thou shalt 
hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid 
with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the 
four sockets of silver. 7 ' From Heb. 10:19,20 we 
learn that the "veil" foreshadowed the Incarnation. 
God manifest in flesh — "through the veil, that is to 
say, His flesh/' It is surely significant that this 
"veil" was hung upon "four pillars of shittim wood 
overlaid with gold:" the wood, again, speaking of 
His humanity, and the gold of His Deity. Just as 
these "four pillars" served to display the beautiful 
veil, so in the four Gospels we have made manifest 
the perfections of the only-begotten of the Father 
tabernacling among men. 

In connection with the Scripture last quoted, we 
may observe one other feature — "with cherubim 
shall it be made." The veil was ornamented, ap- 
parently, with the "cherubim" embroidered upon it 
in colors of blue, purple, and scarlet. In Ezek. 10: 
15, 17 etc. the cherubim are termed "the living 
creature:" this enables us to identify the "four 
beasts" of Rev. 4:6, for rendered literally the Greek 
reads "four living creatures.' 7 These "living crea- 
tures" or "cherubim" a.re also four in number, and 
from the description which is furnished of them in 
Rev. 4:7 it will be found that they correspond, most 
remarkably with the various characters in which the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



19 



Lord Jesus Christ is set forth in Matthew, Mark, 
Luke and John. 

"And the first living creature was like a lion, and 
the second living creature like a calf, and the third 
living creature had a face as a man, and the fourth 
living creature was like a flying eagle' 7 (Rev. 4:7). 
The first cherubim, then, was like "a lion" which 
reminds us at once of the titles which are used of 
Christ in Rev. 5 :5—"The Lion of the Tribe of Ju- 
dah, the Root of David/' The lion, which is the 
king among the beasts is an apt symbol for portray- 
ing Christ as He is presented in Matthew's Gospel. 
Note also that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is here 
termed "the Root of David." Thus the description 
given in Rev. 4:7 of the first "cherubim" corresponds 
exactly with the character in which Christ is set 
forth in the first Gospel, viz., as "the Son of David/' 
the "King of the Jews." The second cherubim was 
"like a calf" or "young ox." The young ox aptly 
symbolizes Christ as He is presented in Mark's Gos- 
pel, for just as the ox was the chief animal of service 
in Israel, so in the second Gospel we have Christ pre- 
sented in lowliness as the perfect "Servant of Jeho- 
vah." The third cherubim "had a face as a man" 
which corresponds with the third Gospel where our 
Lord's Humanity is in view. The fourth cherubim 
was "like a flying eagle:" how significant! The first 
three — the lion, young ox, and man, — all belong to 
the earth, just as each of the first three Gospels each 
set forth Christ in an earthly relationship: but this 
fourth cherubim lifts us up above the earth, and 
brings the heavens into view ! The eagle is the bird 
that soars the highest and symbolizes the character 
in which Christ is seen in John's Gospel, viz., as the 
Son of God. Incidentally we may observe how this 



20 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



description of the four cherubim in Rev. 4:7 authen- 
ticates the arrangement of the four Gospels as we 
have them in our Bibles, evidencing the fact that 
their present order is of Divine arrangement as Rev. 
4:7 confirms! 

We would call attention to one other feature ere 
closing this Introduction and turning to the Gos- 
pels themselves. Behold the wisdom of God dis- 
played in the selection of the four men whom He 
employed to write the Gospels. In each one we may 
discern a peculiar suitability and fitness for his task. 

The instrument selected by God to write this first 
Gospel was singularly fitted for the task before him. 
Matthew is the only one of the four Evangelists who 
presents Christ in an official relationship, namely, as 
the Messiah and King of Israel, and Matthew him- 
self was the only one of the four who filled an of- 
ficial position ; for, unlike Luke, who was by profes- 
sion a physician, or John who was a fisherman, Mat- 
thew was a tax-gatherer in the employ of the Ro- 
mans. Again : Matthew presents Christ in Kingdom 
connections, as the One who possessed the title to 
reign over Israel ; how fitting, then, that Matthew, 
who was an officer of and accustomed to look out 
over a vast empire, should be the one selected for this 
task. Again; Matthew was a publican. The Ro- 
mans appointed officials whose duty it was to collect 
the Jewish taxes. The tax-gatherers were hated by 
the Jews more bitterly than the Romans themselves. 
Such a man was Matthew. How feelingly, then, 
could he write of the One who was "hated without 
a cause" ! and set forth the Messiah-Saviour as "de- 
spised and rejected" by His own nation. Finally, 
in God appointing this man, who by calling was 
connected with the Romans, we have a striking an- 



WHY 



FOUR GOSPELS? 



21 



ticipation of the grace of God reaching out to the 
despised Gentiles. 

Mark's Gospel sets before us the Servant of Jeho- 
vah, God's perfect Workman. And the instrument 
chosen to write this second Gospel seems to have 
held an unique position which well fitted him for 
his task. He was not himself one of the apostles, but 
was rather a servant of an apostle. In 2 Tim. 4:11 
we have a scripture which brings this out in a strik- 
ing manner — "Take Mark, and bring him with 
thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry." 
Thus the one who wrote of our Lord as the Servant 
of God, was himself one who "ministered" to others! 

Luke's Gospel deals with our Lord's Humanity, 
and presents Him as the Son of Man related to but 
contrasted from the sons of men. Luke's Gospel is 
the one which gives us the fullest account of the vir- 
gin-birth. Luke's Gospel also reveals more fully 
than any of the others the fallen and depraved 
state of human nature. Again; Luke's Gospel is 
far more international in its scope than the other 
three, and is more Gentilish than Jewish — evidences 
of this will be presented when we come to examine 
his Gospel in detail. Now observe the appropriate- 
ness of the selection of Luke to write this Gospel. 
Who was he? He was neither a fisherman nor a 
tax-gatherer, but a "physician" (see Col. 4:14), and 
as such, a student of human nature and a diognos- 
tician of the human frame. Moreover, there is good 
reason to believe that Luke himself was not a Jew 
but a Gentile, and hence it was peculiarly fitting 
that he should present Christ not as "the Son of 
David" but as "The Son of Man." 

John's Gospel presents Christ in the loftiest char- 
acter of all, setting Him forth in Divine relation- 



22 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



ship, showing that He was the Son of God. This 
was a task that called for a man of high spirituality, 
one who was intimate with our Lord in a special 
manner, one who was gifted with unusual spiritual 
discernment. And surely John, w T ho was nearer to 
the Saviour than any of the twelve, surely John "the 
disciple whom Jesus loved/ 7 w T as well chosen. How 
fitting that the one who leaned on the Master's 
bosom should be the instrument to portray Christ 
as "The only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom 
of the Father' ' ! Thus may we discern and admire 
the manifold wisdom of God in equipping the four 
"Evangelists' ' for their honorous work. 

Ere closing this Introduction we would return 
once more to our opening query — Why four Gos- 
pels? This time we shall give the question a differ- 
ent emphasis. Thus far, we have considered, Why 
four Gospels? And we have seen that the answer is, 
In order to present the person of Christ in four dif- 
ferent characters. But we would now ask, Why four 
Gospels? Why not have reduced them to two or 
three? Or, why not have added a fifth? Why jour? 
God has a wise reason for everything, and we may 
be assured there is a Divine fitness in the number of 
the Gospels. 

In seeking to answer the question, Why jour Gos- 
pels, we are not left to the uncertainties of specula- 
tion or imagination. Scripture is its own inter- 
preter. A study of God's Word reveals the fact (as 
pointed out by others before us), that in it the 
numerals are used with definite precision and mean- 
ing. "Four" is the number of the earth. It is, 
therefore, also, the world number. We subjoin a few 
illustrations of this. There are jour points to earth's 
compass — north, east, south, and w r est. There are 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



23 



four seasons to earth's year — spring, summer, au- 
tumn, and winter. There are four elements con- 
nected with our world — earth, air, fire, and water. 
There have been four, and only four, great world- 
empires — the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the 
Grecian, and the Roman. Scripture divides earth's 
inhabitants into four classes — "kindred, and tongue, 
and people, and nation" (Rev. 5:9 etc.). In the 
Parable of the Sower, our Lord divided the field into 
four kinds of soil, and later He said, "the field is 
the world/' The fourth commandment has to do 
with rest from all earth's labors. The fourth clause 
in what is known as the Lord's prayer is, "Thy will 
be done on earth." And so we might go on. Four 
is thus the earth number. How fitting, then, that 
the Holy Spirit should have given us four Gospels 
in which to set forth the earthly ministry of the 
Heavenly One. 



if. 



MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. 



MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. 



P/j r MATTHEW'S Gospel breaks the long silence 



„ that followed the ministry of Malachi the 



^ v * dj last of the Old Testament prophets. This 
silence extended for four hundred years, and during 
that time God was hid from Israel's view. Through- 
out this period there were no angelic manifestations, 
no prophet spake for Jehovah, and, though the 
Chosen People were sorely pressed, yet were there no 
Divine interpositions on their behalf. For four cen- 
turies God shut His people up to His written Word. 
Again and again had God promised to send the Mes- 
siah, and from Malachi's time and onwards the 
saints of the Lord anxiously awaited the appearing 
of the predicted One. It is at this point Matthew 
picks up the thread dropped by the last of the Old 
Testament prophets. The first purpose of Matthew's 
Gospel is to present Christ as the Ful filler of the 
promises made to Israel and the prophecies which 
related to their Messiah. This is why the word "ful- 
filled" occurs in Matthew fifteen times, and why 
there are more quotations from the Old Testament 
in this first Gospel than in the remaining three put 
together. 

The position which Matthew's Gospel occupies in 
the Sacred Canon indicates its scope: it follows im- 
mediately after the Old Testament, and stands at 
the beginning of the New. It is therefore a connect- 
ing link between them. Hence it is transitionary 
in its character, and more Jewish than any other 
book in the New Testament. Matthew reveals God 




28 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



appealing to and dealing with His Old Testament 
people; presents the Lord Jesus as occupying a dis- 
tinctively Jewish relationship ; and, is the only one 
of the four Evangelists that records Messiah's ex- 
press declaration, "I am not sent but unto the lost 
sheep of the House of Israel" (15:24). The numer- 
ical position given to Matthew's Gospel in the Di- 
vine library confirms what has just been said, for, 
being the fortieth book it shows us Israel in the 
place of probation, tested by the presence of Messiah 
in their midst. 

Matthew presents the Lord Jesus as Israel's Mes- 
siah and King, as well as the One who shall save His 
people from their sins. The opening sentence gives 
the key to the book — "The book of the generation 
of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abra- 
ham." Seven times the Lord Jesus is addressed as 
"Son of David" in this Gospel, and ten times, alto- 
gether, is this title found there. "Son of David" 
connects the Saviour with Israel's throne, "Son of 
Abraham" linking Him with Israel's land — Abra- 
ham being the one to whom Jehovah first gave the 
land. But nowhere after the opening verse is this 
title "Son of Abraham" applied to Christ, for the 
restoration of the land to Israel is consequent upon 
their acceptance of Him as their Saviour-King, and 
that which is made prominent in this first Gospel is 
the presentation of Christ as King — twelve times 
over is this title here applied to Christ. 

Matthew is essentially the dispensational Gospel 
and it is impossible to over-estimate its importance 
and value. Matthew shows us Christ offered to the 
Jews, and the consequences of their rejection of Him, 
namely, the setting aside of Israel, and God turning 
in grace to the Gentiles. Rom. 15:8,9 summarizes 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



29 



the scope of Matthew's Gospel — "Jesus Christ was a 
minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to 
confirm the promises made unto the fathers; And 
that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy/' 
Christ was not only born of the Jews, but He was 
born, first, to the Jews, so that in the language of 
their prophet they could exclaim, "Unto us sl Child 
is born, unto us a Son is given" (Isa. 9:6). Mat- 
thew's Gospel explains why Israel, in the later books 
of the New Testament, is seen temporally cast off 
by God, and why He is now taking out from the 
Gentiles a people for His name; in other words, it 
makes known why, in the present dispensation, the 
Church has superseded the Jewish theocracy. It 
supplies the key to God's dealings with the earth in 
this Age: without a workable knowledge of this first 
Gospel it is well-nigh impossible to understand the 
remaining portions of the New Testament. We turn 
now to consider some of the outstanding features and 
peculiar characteristics of Matthew's Gospel. 

The first thing which arrests our attention is the 
opening verse. God, in His tender grace, has hung 
the key right over the entrance. The opening verse 
is that which unlocks the contents of this Gospel — 
"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son 
of David, the Son of Abraham." The first five Eng- 
lish words here are but two in the Greek— "Biblos 
geneseos." These two words indicate the peculiarly 
Jewish character of the earlier portions of this Gos- 
pel, for it is an Old Testament expression. It is note- 
worthy that this expression which commences the 
New Testament is found almost at the beginning of 
the first book in the Old Testament, for in Gen. 5:1 
we read, "This is the book of the generations of 
Adam." We need hardly say that this word "gen- 



30 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



eration" signifies the history of. These two "books" 
— the book of the generations of Adam, and the book 
of the generation of Jesus Christ — might well be 
termed the Book of Death and the Book of Life. Not 
only does the whole Bible center around these two 
books, but the sum of human destiny also. How 
strikingly this expression, found at the beginning of 
Genesis and the beginning of Matthew, brings out 
the Unity of the two Testaments ! 

In the book of Genesis we have eleven different 
"generations" or histories enumerated, beginning 
with the "generations of the heavens and the earth," 
and closing with the "generations of Jacob" — see 
2:4: 5:1; 6:9: 10:1: 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19: 
36:1: 36:9; 37:2— thus dividing the first book of 
the Bible into twelve sections, twelve being the num- 
ber of Divine government, which is what is before 
us in Genesis — God in sovereign government. From 
Exodus to Daniel we find government entrusted, in- 
♦ strumentally, to Israel, and from Daniel onwards it 
is in the hands of the Gentiles: but in Genesis we 
antedate the Jewish theocracy, and there government 
is found directly in the hands of God, hence its 
twelvefold division. Twice more, namely, in Num. 
3:1 and Ruth 4:18, do we get this expression "the 
generation of," making in the Old Testament thir- 
teen in all, which is the number of apostasy, for that 
is all the Law revealed! But, as we have seen, this 
expression occurs once more (and there for the last 
time in Holy Writ) in the opening verse of the 
New Testament, thus making; fourteen in all, and 
the fourteenth is "the book of the generation of 
Jesus Christ." How profoundly significant and 
suggestive this is! Fourteen is 2x7, and two sig- 
nifies (among its other meanings) contrast or dif- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



31 



ference, and seven is the number of perfection and 
completeness — and what a complete difference the 
Coming of Jesus Christ made! 

"The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of David, the Son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1). 
These titles of our Saviour have, at least, a threefold 
significance. In the first place, both of them con- 
nect Him with Israel: "Son of David' 7 linking Him 
with Israel's Throne, and "Son of Abraham" with 
Israel's Land. In the second place, "Son of David" 
limits Him to Israel, whereas "Son of Abraham" is 
wider in its scope, reaching forth to the Gentiles, for 
God's original promise was that in Abraham "shall 
ail the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3). 
In the third place, as Dr. W. L. Tucker has pointed 
out, these titles correspond exactly with the twofold 
(structural) division of Matthew's Gospel.* Up to 
4:16 all is Introductory, and 4:17 opens the first di- 
vision of the book, reading, "From that time Jesus 
began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the King- 
dom of heaven is at hand." This section treats of 
the Official ministry of Christ and presents Him as 
"the Son of David." The second section commences 
at 16:21 and reads, "From that time forth Jesus 
began to show unto His disciples, how that He must 
go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, 
and be raised again the third day." This section 
treats, primarily, of the Sacrificial work of Christ, 
and views Him as "the Son of Abraham," typified, 
of old, by Isaac — laid on the altar. 

Having dwelt at some length on the opening verse 

*Dr. Tucker calls attention to the literary divisions of Mat- 
thew's Gospel: the dispensational break occurring at the close 
of chapter 12. 



32 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



of our Gospel, we may next notice that the remain- 
der of the chapter down to the end of verse 17 is 
occupied with the Genealogy of Jesus Christ. The 
prime significance of this is worthy of our closest at- 
tention, for it fixes with certainty the character and 
dominant theme of this. Gospel. The very first book 
of the New Testament opens with a long list of 
names ! What a proof that no un-inspired man com- 
posed it! But God's thoughts and ways are ever 
different from ours, and ever perfect too. The rea- 
son for this Genealogy is not far to seek. As we 
have seen, the opening sentence of Matthew con- 
tains the key to the book, intimating plainly that 
Christ is here viewed, first, in a Jewish relationship, 
fully entitled to sit on David's Throne. How then 
is His title established? By showing that, according 
to the flesh, He belonged to the royal tribe: by set- 
ting forth His Kingly line of descent. A King's 
title to occupy the throne depends not on the public 
ballot, but lies in his blood rights. Therefore, the 
first thing which the Holy Spirit does in this Gos- 
pel is to give us the Royal Genealogy of the Messiah, 
showing that as a lineal descendant of David He 
was fully entitled to Israel's Throne. 

The Genealogy recorded in Matt. 1 gives us not 
merely the human ancestry of Christ, but, particu- 
larly, His royal line of descent, this being one of the 
essential features which differentiates it from the 
Genealogy recorded in Luke 3. The fundamental 
design of Matt. 1:1-17 is to prove Christ's right to 
reign as King of the Jews. This is why the gene- 
alogy is traced no further back than Abraham, he 
being the father of the Hebrew people. This is why, 
in the opening verse, the order is " Jesus Christ, the 
Son of David, the Son of Abraham," instead of 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



33 



"the Son of Abraham, the Son of David" as might 
be expected from the order which immediately fol- 
lows, for there we start with Abraham and work up 
to David. Why, then, is this order reversed in the 
opening verse? The answer must be that David 
comes first because it is the Kingly line which is here 
being emphasised! This also explains why, in verse 
2 we read "Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat 
Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren." 
Why should Judah alone be here singled out for 
mention from the twelve sons of Jacob? Why not 
have said "Jacob begat Reuben and his brethren"? 
for he was Jacob's "firstborn." If it be objected that 
the birthright was transferred from Reuben to Jo- 
seph, then we ask, why not have said "Jacob begat 
Joseph"? especially as- Joseph was his favorite son. 
The answer is, Because Judah was the royal tribe, 
and it is the Kingly line which is here before us. 
Again; in verse 6 we read, "And Jesse begat David 
the king: and David the Icing begat Solomon of her 
that had been the wife of Uriah." Of all those who 
reigned over Israel whose names are here recorded in 
Matthew 1, David is the only one that is denomi- 
nated "King," and he, twice over in the same verse! 
Why is this, except to bring David into special 
prominence, and thus show us the significance of the 
title given to our Lord in the opening verse — "the 
Son of David/' 

There are many interesting features of this Ge- 
nealogy which we must now pass over, but its nu- 
merical arrangement calls for a few brief comments. 
The Genealogy is divided into three parts: the first 
section, running from Abraham to David, may be 
termed the period of Preparation; the second section, 
running from Solomon to the Babylonian captivity. 



34 



WHY 



FOUR 



GOSPELS? 



may be called the period of Degeneration; while the 
third period, running from the Babylonian captiv- 
ity till the Birth of Christ, may be named the period 
of Expectation. The numeral three signifies, in 
Scripture, manifestation, and how appropriate this 
arrangement was here, for not until Christ appears is 
God's purpose concerning Abraham and his seed 
fully manifested. Each of these three sections in 
the Royal Genealogy contains fourteen generations, 
which is 2x7. two signifying (among its slightly 
varied meanings) testimony or competent witness, 
and seven standing for perfection. Again we may 
admire the consonancy of these numerals in this 
genealogy of Christ, for only in Him do we get 
perfect testimony — the "Faithful and True Wit- 
ness." Finally, be it observed, that 14 x 3 gives us 
42 generations in all from Abraham to Christ, or 
7 x 6. seven signifying perfection, and six being the 
number of man. so that Christ — the forty-second 
from Abraham — brings us to the Perfect Man!! 
How microscopically perfect is the AVord of God! 

"And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, 
of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ" 
(Matt. 1:16). Matthew does not connect Joseph and 
Jesus as father and son. but departs from the usual 
phraseology of the genealogy so as to indicate the 
peculiarity, the uniqueness, of the Saviour's birth. 
Abraham might begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, 
but Joseph the husband of Mary did not begat Je- 
sus, instead, we read. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ 
was on this wise: when as His mother Mary was 
espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she 
was found with child of the Holy Spirit" (1:18). 
As Isaiah had foretold (7:14) seven hundred years 
before. Messiah was to be born of "the virgin. " But 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



35 



a virgin had no right to Israel's throne, but Joseph 
had this right, being a direct descendant of David, 
and so through Joseph, His legal father (for be it 
remembered that betrothal was as binding with the 
Jews as marriage is with us) the Lord Jesus se- 
cured His rights, according to the flesh, to be King 
of the Jews. 

Coming now to Matt. 2 we may observe that we 
have in this chapter an incident recorded which is 
entirely passed over by the other Evangelists, but 
which is peculiarly appropriate in this first Gospel. 
This incident is the visit of the wise men who came 
from the East to honor and worship the Christ 
Child. The details which the Holy Spirit gives us 
of this visit strikingly illustrate the distinctive char- 
acter and scope of Matthew's Gospel. This chapter 
opens as follows, "'Now when Jesus was born in Beth- 
lehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, be- 
hold, there came wise men from the east to Jeru- 
salem, Saying, "Where is He that is born King of 
the Jews? for we have seen His star in the east, and 
are come to worship Him." Notice, these wise men 
came not inquiring, "Where is He that is born the 
Saviour of the world?", nor, "Where is the Word 
now incarnate?", but instead, "Where is He that is 
born King of the Jews?" The fact that Mark, Luke 
and John are entirely silent about this, and the fact 
that Matthew's Gospel does record it, is surely proof 
positive that this First Gospel presents Christ in a 
distinctively Jewish relationship. The evidence for 
this is cumulative: there is first the peculiar expres- 
sion with which Matthew opens — "the book of the 
generation of," which is an Old Testament expres- 
sion, and met with nowhere else in the New Testa- 
ment ; there is the first title which is given to Christ 



36 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



in this Gospel — "Son of David;" there is the Royal 
Genealogy which immediately follows; and now 
there is the record of the visit of the wise men, say- 
ing, "Where is He that is born King of the Jews?" 
Thus has the Spirit of God made so plain and prom- 
inent the peculiarly Jewish character of the opening 
chapters of Matthew's Gospel that none save those 
who are blinded by prejudice can fail to see its true 
dispensational place. Thus, too, has He rendered 
excuseless the foolish agitation which is now, in cer- 
tain quarters, being raised, and which tends only to 
confuse and confound. 

But there is far more in Matt. 2 than the recog- 
nition of Christ as the rightful King of the Jews. 
The incident therein narrated contains a foreshad- 
owment of the reception which Christ was to meet 
with here in the world, anticipating the end from 
the beginning. What we find here in Matt. 2 is real- 
ly a prophetic outline of the whole course of Mat- 
thew's Gospel. First, we have the affirmation that 
the Lord Jesus was born "King of the Jews;*' then 
we have the fact that Christ is found not in Jerusa- 
lem, the royal city, but outside of it : then we have 
the blindness and indifference of the Jews to the 
presence of David's Son in their midst — seen in the 
fact that, first, His own people were unaware that 
the Messiah was now there among them, and sec- 
ond, in their failure to accompany the wise men as 
they left Jerusalem seeking the young Child: then 
we are shown strangers from a far-distant land with 
a heart for the Saviour, seeking Him out and wor- 
shipping Him: finally, we learn of the civil ruler 
filled with hatred and seeking His life. Thus, the 
incident as a whole marvellously foreshadowed 
Christ's rejection by the Jews and His acceptance by 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



37 



the Gentiles. Thus do we find epitomized here the 
whole burden of Matthew's Gospel, the special pur- 
pose of which is to show Christ presenting Himself 
to Israel, Israel's rejection of Him. with the conse- 
quent result of God setting Israel aside for a sea- 
son, and reaching out in grace to the despised Gen- 
tiles. 

Next we read, "And when they were departed, be- 
hold the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a 
dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and 
His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there 
until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the 
young Child to destroy Him" (2:13). Observe that 
it is Joseph and not Mary that figures so prominent- 
ly in the first two chapters of Matthew, for it was 
not through His mother, but through His legal fa- 
ther that the Lord Jesus acquired His title to David's 
throne — compare Matt. 1:20, where Joseph is 
termed "son of David'' ! It should also be pointed 
out that Matthew is, again, the only one of the four 
Evangelists to record this journey into Egypt, and 
the subsequent return to Palestine. This is profound- 
ly suggestive, and strikingly in accord with the 
special design of this First Gospel, for it shows how 
Israel's Messiah took the very same place as where 
Israel's history as a Nation began ! 

"But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of 
the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 
Saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His 
mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are 
dead which sought the young Child's life. And he 
arose, and took the young Child and His mother, 
and came into the land of Israel" (2:19-21). Once 
more we discover another line which brines out the 
peculiarly Jewish character of Matthew's delinea- 



3S 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



tion of Christ. This is the only place in the New 
Testament where Palestine is termed "the land of 
Israel/' 7 and it is significantly proclaimed as such 
here in connection with Israel's King, for it is not 
until He shall set up His Throne in Jerusalem that 
Palestine shall become in fact, as it has so long been 
in promise, "the Land of Israel." Yet how tragical- 
ly suggestive is the statement that immediately fol- 
lows here, and which closes Matt. 2. No sooner do 
we read of "the land of Israel" than we find "But" 
as the very next word, and in Scripture, "but"' al- 
most always points a contrast. Here we read, "But 
when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea 
in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go 
thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a 
dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 
And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: 
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the 
prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene" (2:21-23). 
Nazareth was the most despised place in that de- 
spised province of Galilee, and thus we see how early 
the Messiah took the place of the despised One, again 
foreshadowing His rejection by the Jews — but men- 
tion of "'Nazareth" follows, be it observed, mention 
of "the land of Israel." 

Matthew 3 opens by bringing before us a most 
striking character: "In those days" — that is, while 
the Lord Jesus still dwelt in despised Nazareth of 
Galilee — "came John the Baptist, preaching in the 
wilderness of Judea." He was the predicted fore- 
runner of Israel's Messiah. He was the one of whom 
Isaiah had said should prepare the way of the Lord, 
and this by preparing a people to receive Him by 
such time as He should appear to the public view. 
He came "'in the spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



39 



1:17), to do a work similar in character to that of 
the yet future mission of the Tishbite (Mai. 4:5, 6). 

John addressed himself to the Covenant people, 
and restricted himself to the land of Judea. He 
preached not in Jerusalem but in the wilderness. 
The reason for this is obvious: God would not own 
the degenerate system of Judaism, but stationed His 
messenger outside all the religious circles of that 
day. The "wilderness" but symbolized the barren- 
ness and desolation of Israel's spiritual condition. 

The message of John was simple and to the point 
— "Repent ye. 77 It was a call for Israel to judge 
themselves. It w T as a word which demanded that 
the Jews take their proper place before God, confess- 
ing their sins. Only thus could a people be made 
ready for the Lord, the Messiah. The Call to Re- 
pentance was enforced by a timely warning — "Re- 
pent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." 
Observe, "Repent ye" not because "the Saviour is at 
hand," not because "God incarnate is now in your 
midst," and not because "A new Dispensation has 
davvned;" but, because "the Kingdom of Heaven" 
was "at hand." What would John's hearers under- 
stand by this expression? What meaning could those 
Jews attach to his words? Surely the Baptist did not 
employ language which, in the nature of the case, 
it was impossible for them to grasp. And yet we are 
asked to believe that John was here introducing 
Christianity ! A wilder and more ridiculous theory 
it would be hard to imagine. If by the "Kingdom 
of Heaven" John signified the Christian dispensa- 
tion, then he addressed those Jewish hearers in an 
unknown tongue. We say it with calm deliberation, 
that if John bade his auditors repent because the 
Christian dispensation was then being inaugurated, 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



he mocked them, by employing a term which not 
only must have been entirely un-intelligible to them, 
but utterly mis-leading. To charge God's messenger 
with doing that is perilously near committing a sin 
which we shrink from naming. 

What then, we ask again, would John's hearers 
understand him to mean when he said. "Repent ye, 
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand"? Address- 
ing, as he was. a people who were familiar with the 
Old Testament Scriptures, they could place but one 
meaning upon his words, namely, that he was re- 
ferring to the Kingdom spoken of again and again 
by their prophets — the Messianic Kingdom. That 
which should distinguish Messiah's Kingdom from 
all the kingdoms that have preceded it. is this: all 
the kingdoms of this world have been ruled over by 
Satan and his hosts, whereas, when Messiah's King- 
dom is established, it shall be a rule of the Heavens 
over the earth. 

The Question has been raised as to why Israel re- 
fused the Kingdom on which their hearts were set. 
Did not the establishing of Messiah's Kingdom 
mean an end of the Roman dominion? and was not 
that the one thing they desired above all others? In 
reply to such questions several things must be in- 
sisted upon. In the first place, it is a mistake to say 
that Israel "refused" the Kingdom, for, in strict ac- 
curacy of language, the Kingdom was never "'of- 
fered'' to them — rather was the Kingdom heralded 
or proclaimed. The Kingdom was "at hand" be- 
cause the Heir to David's throne was about to pre- 
sent Himself to them. In the second place, before 
the Kingdom could be set up. Israel must first "Re- 
pent/'' but this, as is well known, is just what they, 
as a Nation, steadily refused to do. As we are ex- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



41 



pressly told in Luke 7:29,30, "And all the people 
that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, be- 
ing baptized with the baptism of John. But the 
Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God 
against themselves, being not baptized of him." In 
the third place, the reader will, perhaps, see our 
meaning clearer if we illustrate by an analogy: the 
world today is eagerly longing for the Golden Age. 
A millennium of peace and rest is the great desider- 
atum among diplomats and politicians. But they 
want it on their own terms. They desire to bring it 
about by their own efforts. They have no desire for 
a Millennium brought about by the personal return 
to earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Exactly so was 
it with Israel in the days of John the Baptist. True, 
they desired to be delivered from the Roman domin- 
ion. True, they wished to be freed for ever from 
the Gentile yoke. True, they longed 'for a millen- 
nium of undisturbed prosperity in a restored Pal- 
estine, but they did not want it on GOD'S terms. 

The ministry of John the Baptist is referred to 
at greater or shorter length in each of the four 
Gospels, but Matthew is the only one who records 
this utterance "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heav- 
en is at hand. 7 ' To ignore this fact is to fail in 
"rightly dividing the Word of truth." It is to lose 
sight of the characteristic distinctions which the 
Holy Spirit has been pleased to make in the four 
Gospels. It is to reduce those four independent de- 
lineations of Christ's person and ministry to a mean- 
ingless jumble. It is to lay bare the incompetency 
of a would-be-teacher of Scripture as one who is not 
a "scribe who is instructed unto the Kingdom of 
heaven" (Matt. 13:52). 

John's baptism confirmed his preaching. He bap- 



42 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



tized "unto repentance/' and in Jordan, the river 
of death. Those who were baptized "confessed their 
sins" (Mark 1:5), of which death was the just due, 
the "wages" earned. But Christian baptism is en- 
tirely different from this: there, we take not the 
place of those who deserve death, but of those who 
show forth the fact that they have, already, died 
with Christ. 

It is beyond our present purpose to attempt a de- 
tailed exposition of this entire Gospel, rather shall 
we single out those features which are characteristic 
of and peculiar to this first Gospel. Accordingly, we 
may notice an expression found in 3:11, and which 
occurs nowhere else in the New Testament outside 
of the four Gospels, and this is the more remarkable 
because a portion of this very verse is quoted in the 
Acts. Speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees who 
had "come to his baptism," but whom the Lord's 
forerunner quickly discerned were not in any con- 
dition to be baptized; who had been warned to flee 
from the wrath to come, and therefore were in urgent 
need of bringing forth "fruit meet for repentance" 
(in their case, humbling themselves before God, 
abandoning their lofty pretentions and self right- 
eousness, and taking their place as genuine self-con- 
fessed sinners) , and to whom John had said, "Think 
not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to 
our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of 
these stones to raise up children unto (not God, be 
it noted, but) Abraham" (v. 9) : to them John an- 
nounced, "I indeed baptize you with water unto re- 
pentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier 
than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall 
baptize you with the Spirit and fire." 

In Acts 1, where we behold the risen Lord in the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS ! 



43 



midst of His disciples, we read, '"'And, being as- 
sembled together with them, commanded them that 
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for 
the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have 
heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water: 
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not 
many days hence"' (w. 4,5). His forerunner had 
declared that Christ should baptize Israel with '''the 
Holy Spirit and fire/' yet, here, the Lord speaks only 
of the disciples being baptized with the Holy Spirit. 
Why is this? Why did the Lord Jesus omit the 
words "and fire'"? The simple answer is that in 
Scripture "fire" is, invariably, connected with Di- 
vine judgment. Thus, the reason is obvious why 
the Lord omits "and fire" from His utterance re- 
corded in Acts 1. He was about to deal, not in judg- 
ment but, in grace ! It is equally evident why the 
words "and fire*' are recorded by Matthew, for his 
Gospel, deals, essentially with Dispensational rela- 
tionships, and makes known much concerning End- 
time conditions. God is yet to "baptize" recreant 
Israel "with fire/' the reference being to the tribu- 
lation judgments, during the time of "Jacob's 
Trouble." Then will the winnowing fan be held 
by the hand of the rejected Messiah, and then "He 
will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His 
wheat into the garner: but He will burn up the chaff 
with unquenchable fire*' (Matt. 3:12). How man- 
ifestly do the words last quoted define for us the bap- 
tism of "fire"! 

The silence of the risen Lord as to the "fire'' when 
speaking to the disciples about "the baptism of the 
Spirit,'' has added force and significance when we find 
that Mark's Gospel gives the substance of what Mat- 
thew records of the Baptist's utterance, while omit- 



44 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



ting the words "and fire" — "There cometh One 
mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes 
I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I in- 
deed have baptized you with water: but He shall 
baptize you with the Holy Spirit" (Mark 1:7,8). 
Why is this? Because, as we have pointed out, "fire" 
is the well-known symbol of God's judgment (often 
displayed in literal fire) , and Mark, who is present- 
ing Christ as the Servant of Jehovah, was most 
obviously led of the Spirit to leave out the words 
"and fire," for as Servant He does not execute judg- 
ment. The words "and with fire" are found, though, 
in Luke, and this, again, is most significant. For, 
Luke is presenting Christ as "The Son of Man," and 
in John 5 we read, "And hath given Him author- 
ity to execute judgment also because He is the Son 
of Man" (v. 27). How strikingly, then, does the in- 
clusion of the words "and fire" in Matthew and 
Luke, and their omission in Mark, bring out the 
verbal inspiration of Scripture, and the complete su- 
pervision of the Holy Spirit over the instruments 
He employed in the writing of God's Word! 

The closing verses of Matt. 3 show us the Lord 
Jesus, in marvellous grace, taking His place with the 
believing remnant of Israel: "Then cometh Jesus 
from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of 
him" (3:13). John was so startled that, at first, he 
refused to baptize Him — so little do the best of men 
enter into the meaning of the things of God — "But 
John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be bap- 
tized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?" (3:14). 
Observe once more, that Matthew is the only one of 
the Evangelists which mentions this shrinking of 
the Baptist from baptizing the Lord Jesus. Appropri- 
ately does it find a place here, for it brings out the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



45 



royal dignity and majesty of Israel's Messiah. As 
to the meaning and significance of the Saviour's 
baptism we do not now enter at length, suffice it here 
to say that it revealed Christ as the One who had 
come down from heaven to act as the Substitute of 
His people, to die in their stead, and thus at the be- 
ginning of His public ministry He identifies Him- 
self with those whom He represented, taking His 
place alongside of them in that which spoke of 
death. The descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him 
attested Him, indeed, as the true Messiah, the 
Anointed One (see Acts 10:38), and the audible 
testimony of the Father witnessed to His perfec- 
tions, and fitness for the Work He was to do. 

The first half of Matt. 4 records our Lord's Temp- 
tation, into which we do not now enter. The next 
thing we are told is, "Now when Jesus had heard 
that John was cast into prison, He departed into 
Galilee; And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt 
in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the 
borders of Zebulon and Naphtali" (4:12,13), and 
this in order that a prophecy of Isaiah's might be 
fulfilled. And then we read, "From that time Je- 
sus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the 
Kingdom of heaven is at hand" (4:17). It would 
seem that the words "from that time" refer to the 
casting of the Baptist into prison. John's message 
had been, "Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven 
is at hand" (3:2), and now that His forerunner had 
been incarcerated, the Messiah Himself takes up 
identically the same message — the proclamation of 
the Kingdom. In keeping with this, we read, "And 
Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their syna- 
gogues, and preaching the Gospel (not, be it noted, 
the "Gospel of the Grace of God" — Acts 20:24; nor 



46 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



"the Gospel of Peace"— Eph. 6:15; but "the Gos- 
pel") of the Kingdom, and healing all manner of 
sickness and all manner of disease among the peo- 
ple" (4:23). 

Our Lord's miracles of healing were not simply 
exhibitions of power, or manifestations of mercy, 
they were also a supplement to His preaching and 
teaching, and their prime value was evidential. 
These miracles, which are frequently termed 
"signs," formed an essential part of Messiah's cre- 
dentials. This is established, unequivocally, by what 
we read of in Matt. 11. When John the Baptist was 
cast into prison, his faith as to the Messiahship of 
Jesus wavered, and so he sent two of His disciples 
unto Him, asking, "Art Thou He that should come, 
or do we look for another?" (11:2). Notice, care- 
fully, the Lord's reply, "Go and show John again 
those things which ye do hear and see: The blind 
receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers 
are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised 
up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them" 
(11:4,5). Appeal was made to two things: His 
teaching and His miracles of healing. The two are 
linked together, again, in 9:35 — "And Jesus went 
about all the cities and villages, teaching in their 
synagogues, and preaching the Gospel of the King- 
dom, and healing every sickness, and every disease 
among the people." And, again, when the Lord 
sent forth the Twelve, "But go rather to the lost 
sheep of the House of Israel. And as ye go, preach, 
saying, The Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal 
the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons; freely ye 
have received, freely give" (10:6-8). Miracles of 
healing, then, were inseparately connected with the 
Kingdom testimony. They were among the most 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



47 



important of "The Signs of the times 7 ' concerning 
which the Messiah reproached the Pharisees and 
Sadducees for their failure to discern (see Matt. 16: 
1-3). Similar miracles of healing shall be repeat- 
ed when the Messiah returns to the earth, for we 
read in Is. 35:4-6, "Say to them that are of a fear- 
ful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God 
will come with vengeance, even God with a recom- 
pense; He will come and save you (i. e., the godly 
Jewish remnant of the tribulation period). Then 
the eyes ofjtjie blind shall be opened, and the ears 
of the deaf shall be unstopped/ Then shall the lame 
man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb 
sing." It should be diligently observed that Mat- 
thew, once more, is the only one of the four Evan- 
gelists that makes mention of the Lord Jesus going 
forth and preaching ''The Gospel of the Kingdom/' 
as he is the only one that informs us of the Twelve 
being sent out with the message to the lost sheep of 
the House of Israel, "The Kingdom of heaven is at 
hand.'" How significant this is! and how it indi- 
cates, again, the peculiarly Jewish character of these 
opening chapters of the New Testament ! 

As the result of these miracles of healing Mes- 
siah's fame went abroad throughout the length and 
breadth of the Land, and great multitudes followed 
Him. It is at this stage, we read, "And seeing the 
multitudes, He went up into a mountain : and when 
He was set, His disciples came unto Him: and He 
opened His mouth, and taught them" (5:1, 2). AVe 
are tempted to pause here, and enter into a detailed 
examination of this important, but much mis-under- 
stood portion of Scripture — the "Sermon on the 
Mount." But we must not depart from the central 



48 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



design of this book, hence a few words by way of 
summary is all we shall now attempt. 

The first thing to be remarked is that "the Ser- 
mon on the Mount" recorded in Matt. 5 to 7 is pe- 
culiar to this first Gospel, no mention of it being 
made in the other three. This, together with the 
fact that in Matthew the "Sermon on the Mount" is 
found in the first section of the book, is sufficient to 
indicate its dispensational bearings. Secondly, the 
place from whence this "Sermon" was delivered af- 
fords another key to its scope. It was delivered from 
a "mountain." When the Saviour ascended the 
mount He was elevated above the common level, and 
did, in symbolic action, take His place upon the 
Throne. With Matt. 5:1 should be compared 17:1 
— it was upon a mountain that the Messiah was 
"transfigured," and in that wondrous scene we be- 
hold a miniature and spectacular setting forth of 
"the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom" (see 16: 
28). Again, in 24:3, we find that it was upon a 
mountain that Christ gave that w T ondrous prophecy 
(recorded in 24 and 25) which describes the condi- 
tions which are to prevail just before the Kingdom 
of Christ is set up, and which goes on to tell of what 
shall transpire when He sits upon the Throne of His 
glory. With these passages should be compared two 
others in the Old Testament which clinch what we 
have just said above. In Zech. 14 :4 we read, "And 
His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of 
Olives," the reference being to the return of Christ 
to the earth to set up His Kingdom. Again, in Psalm 
2 we read that God shall yet say, in reply to the 
concerted attempt of earth's rulers to prevent it, 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS ? 



49 



"Yet have I set My King upon My holy of 

The "'Sermon on the Mount" sets forth the Man- 
ifesto of the King. It contains the "Constitution" 
of His Kingdom. It defines the character of those 
who shall enter into it. It tells of the experiences 
through which they pass while being fitted for that 
Kingdom. It enunciates the laws which are to gov- 
ern their conduct. The authority of the King is evi- 
denced by His "I say unto you/ 7 repeated no less 
than fourteen times in this "Sermon."' The effect 
this had upon those who heard Him is apparent 
from the closing verses, "And it came to pass, when 
Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were 
astonished at His doctrine: for He taught them as 
One having authority, and not as the scribes" (7: 
28, 29). 

Another line of evidence which brings out Christ's 
authority (ever the most prominent characteristic 
in connection with a King), which is very pro- 
nounced in this Gospel, is seen in His command 
over the angels. One thing found in connection 
with kings is the many servants they have to wait 
upon them and do their bidding. So we find it here 
in connection with "the Son of David." In Matt. 
13:41 we read. "The Son of man shall send forth 
His angels, and they shall gather out of His King- 
dom all things that offend, and them which do in- 
iquity." Observe that here these celestial servants 

*In marked contrast from Matthew's "Sermon on the 
Mount" is Luke's "Sermon in the Plain" — 6:17 etc. How sig- 
nificant and appropriate! Luke presents the Lord Jesus as 
"Son of Man," born in a manger, and entering into the sor- 
rows and sufferings of men. How fitting, then, that here He 
should be heard speaking from "the Plain" — the common 
level, rather than from "the Mount," the place of eminence! 



50 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



are termed not "the angels/' but, specifically, "His 
angels," that is, Messiah's angels, and that they are 
sent forth in connection with "His Kingdom/' 
Again, in 24:30, 31 we read, "And they shall see the 
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory (this, at His return to earth 
to establish His Kingdom) . And He shall send His 
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they 
Biall gather together His elect from the four winds, 
from one end of heaven to the other." And, again 
in 26 :53, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to 
(better, "ask") My Father, and He shall presently 
(immediately) give Me more than twelve legions of 
angels?" Matthew, be it particularly noted, is the 
only one that brings out this feature. 

Still another line of evidence of the Kingly maj- 
esty of Christ should be pointed out. As it is well 
known, kings are honored by the homage paid them 
by their subjects. We need not be surprised, then, 
to find in this Gospel, which depicts the Saviour as 
"'the Son of David," that Christ is frequently seen 
as the One before whom men prostrated themselves. 
Only once each in Mark, Luke, and John, do we 
read of Him receiving worship, but here in Mat- 
thew no less than ten times! See 2 :2, 8, 11 : 8 :2 ; 9 : 
18; 14:33; 15:25 ; 20:20; 28:9, 17. 

Coming now to Matt, 10 (in 8 and 9 we have the 
Authentication of the King by the special miracles 
which He wrought), in the opening verses we have 
an incident which is recorded in each of the first 
three Gospels, namely, the selection and sending 
forth of the Twelve. But in Matthew's account there 
are several characteristic lines found nowhere else. 
For instance, only here do we learn that when the 
Lord sent them forth, He commanded them, say- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



51 



ing, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into 
any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go 
rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel" (10: 
5,6). Perfectly appropriate is this here, but it 
would have been altogether out of place in any of 
the others. Notice, also, that the Lord added, "And 
as ye go, preach, saying, The Kingdom of heaven 
is at hand." How the connection in which this ex- 
pression is found defines for us its dispensational 
scope! It was only to "the lost sheep of the House 
of Israel" they were to say "The Kingdom of heav- 
en is at hand" ! 

In Matt. 12 we have recorded the most remark- 
able miracle the Messiah performed before His break 
with Israel. It was the healing of a man possessed 
of a demon, and who, in addition, was both dumb 
and blind. Luke, also, records the same miracle, 
but in describing the effects this wonder had upon 
the people who witnessed it, Matthew mentions 
something which Luke omits, something w r hich 
strikingly illustrates the special design of his Gospel. 
In the parallel passage in Luke 11 :14 we read, "And 
He was casting out a demon, and it was dumb. And 
it came to pass, when the demon was gone out, the 
dumb spake; and the people wondered," and there 
the beloved physician stops. But Matthew says, "And 
all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the 
Son of David?" (12:23). Thus we see, again, how 
that the bringing out of the Kingship of Christ is 
the particular object which Matthew, under the 
Holy Spirit, had before him. 

In Matt. 13 we find the seven parables of the 
Kingdom (in its "mystery" form), the first of. which 
is the well known parable of the Sower, the Seed, 
and the Soils. Both Mark and Luke also record it, 



52 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



but with characteristic differences of detail. We call 
attention to one point in Christ's interpretation of 
it. Mark reads, "The Sower soweth the Word" (4: 
14). Luke says, "Now the parable is this: the Seed 
is the Word of God" (8:11). But Matthew, in har- 
mony with his theme says, "Hear ye therefore the 
parable of the Sower. When anyone heareth the 
Word of the Kingdom" etc. (13:18,19). This is 
but a minor point, but how it brings out the perfec- 
tions of Holy Writ, down to the minutest detail! 
How evident it is that no mere man, or number of 
men, composed this Book of books! Well may we 
sing, "How firm a foundation, ye saints of the 
Lord, is laid for your faith in His excellent Word." 

In Matt. 15 we have the well known incident of 
the Canaanitish woman coming to Christ on the be- 
half of her demon-distressed daughter. Mark also 
mentions the same, but omits several of the distin- 
guishing features noted by Matthew. We quote first 
Mark's account, and then Matthew's, placing in ital- 
ics the expressions which show forth the special de- 
sign of his Gospel. "A certain woman whose young 
daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and 
came and fell at His feet. The woman was a Greek, 
a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought Him 
that He would cast forth the demon out of her 
daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children 
first be filled: for it is not meet to take the chil- 
dren's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she 
answered and said unto Him, Yes, Lord; yet the 
dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. 
And He said unto her, For this saying go thy way: 
the demon is gone out of thy daughter" (Mk. 7:25- 
29). "Behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the 
same coasts, and cried unto Him, saying^ Have mer- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



53 



cy on me, Lord, Thou Son of David: my daugh- 
ter is grievously vexed with a demon. But He an- 
svjered her not a ivord (for, as a Gentile, she had no 
claim upon Him as the "Son of David"). And His 
disciples came and besought Him, saying, Send her 
away; for she crieth after us. But He answered and 
said, / am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the 
House of Israel. Then came she and worshipped 
Him, saying, Lord, help me. But He answered and 
said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and 
to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord; yet 
the dogs eat of the crumbs, which fall from their 
master's table. Then Jesus answered and said unto 
her, woman great is thy faith: be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt" (Matt. 15:22-28). 

In the opening verses of Matt. 16 we read of how 
the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Christ tempt- 
ing Him, and desiring that He would show them a 
sign from heaven. Mark and Luke both refer to 
this, but neither of them record that part of our 
Lord's reply which is found here in verses 2 and 3 — 
"He answered and said unto them, When it is even- 
ing, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is 
red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather 
to day: for the sky is red and lowring. ye hypo- 
crites, ye can discern the face of the sky ; but can ye 
not discern the Signs of the Times?" The "signs 
of the times" were the fulfillment of the Old Testa- 
ment predictions concerning the Messiah. Every 
proof had been given to Israel that He was, indeed, 
the promised One. He had been born of a "virgin," 
in Bethlehem, the appointed place; a forerunner 
had prepared His way, exactly as Isaiah had fore- 
told; and, in addition, there had been His mighty 
works, just as prophecy had fore-announced. But 



54 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



the Jews were blinded by their pride and self-right- 
eousness. That Matthew alone makes mention of 
the Messiah's reference to these "Signs of the Times" 
is still another evidence of the distinctively Jewish 
character of his G'ospei. 

In Matt. 16:18 and 18:17 the "church" is twice 
referred to, and Matthew is the only one of the four 
Evangelists which makes any direct mention of it. 
This has puzzled many, but the explanation is quite 
simple. As previously pointed out, the great pur- 
pose of this first Gospel is to show how Christ pre- 
sented Himself to the Jews, how they rejected Him 
as their Messiah, and what were the consequences of 
this, namely, the setting aside of Israel by God for 
a season, and His visiting the Gentiles in sovereign 
grace to take out of them a people for His name. 
Thus, are we here shown how that, and why, the 
Church has, in this dispensation, superseded the 
Jewish theocracy. 

In Matt. 20 we have recorded the parable of the 
Householder, who went out and hired laborers for 
His vineyard, agreeing to pay them one penny for 
the day. Matthew is the only of the Evangelists 
that refers to this parable, and the pertinency of its 
place in his Gospel is clear on the surface. It brings 
out a characteristic of the Kingship of Christ. The 
parable tells of how, at the end of the day, when the 
workers came to receive their wages, there was com- 
plaining among them, because those hired at the 
eleventh hour received the same as those who had 
toiled all through the day — verily, there is nothing 
new under the sun, the dis-satisf action of Labor be- 
ing seen here in the first century! The Owner of 
the vineyard vindicated Himself by reminding the 
dis-contented workers that He paid to each what 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



55 



they had agreed to accept, and then inquired, "Is it 
not lawful for Me to do what I will with Mine own?' 7 
Thus did He, as Sovereign, insist on His rights to 
pay what He pleased, no one being wronged thereby. 

In Matt. 22 we have the parable of the wedding- 
feast of the King's Son. A parable that is very sim- 
ilar to this one is found in Luke's Gospel, and while 
there are many points of resemblance between them, 
yet are there some striking variations. In Luke 14: 
16 we read, "Then said He unto him, A certain 
man made a great supper, and bade many." Where- 
as, in Matt. 22:2 we are told, "The Kingdom of 
heaven is like unto a certain. King, which made a 
marriage for His Son." At the close of this parable 
in Matthew there is something which finds no par- 
allel whatever in Luke. Here we read, "And when 
the King came in to see the guests, He saw there a 
guest which had not on a wedding garment: And 
He saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in 
hither not having a wedding garment? And he was 
speechless. Then said the King to His servants, 
Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and 
cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weep- 
ing, and gnashing of teeth" (22:11-13). How this 
brings out the authority of the King needs scarce- 
ly to be pointed out. 

The whole of Matt. 25 is peculiar to this first Gos- 
pel. We cannot now dwell upon the contents of this 
interesting chapter, but would call attention to what 
is recorded in verses 31 to 46. That the contents 
of these verses is found nowhere else in the four 
Gospels, and its presence here, is another proof of 
the design and scope of Matthew's. These verses 
portray the Son of man seated upon the throne of 
His glory, and before Him are gathered all nations, 



56 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



these being divided into two classes, and stationed 
on His right and left hand, respectively. In ad- 
dressing each class we read, "Then shall the King 
say" etc. (see verses 34, and 40). 

There are a number of items concerning the Pas- 
sion of the Lord Jesus recorded only by Matthew. 
In 26:59,60 we read, "Now the chief priests, and 
elders, and all the council, sought false witnesses 
against Jesus, to put Him to death. But found none : 
yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found 
they none. At the last came two false witnesses'" — 
two, because that was the minimun-number required 
by the law, in order that the truth might be estab- 
lished. It is interesting to note how frequently the 
two witnesses are found in Matthew. In 8:28 we 
read, "And when He was come to the other side in- 
to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two 
possessed with demons'— compare Mark 5:1, 2, 
where only one of these men is referred to. Again 
in 9:27 we read, "And when Jesus departed thence 
two blind men followed Him" etc. — compare Mark 
10:46. In 11:2 we are told, "When John had 
heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two 
of his disciples.*' Finally, in 27:24 we find Pilate's 
testimony to the fact that Christ was a "just man/' 
but in 27:19 we also read, "His wife sent unto him, 
saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just 
man/' And this, as well as the others cited above, 
is found only in Matthew. Again, in 26:63, 64 we 
find a characteristic word omitted from the other 
Gospels — "The high priest answered and said unto 
Him, I adjure thee by the living God, that Thou 
tell us whether Thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless 
I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



57 



man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming 
in the clouds of heaven. " Here only are we told 
that the guilty Jews cried, "His blood be on us, and 
on our children 77 (27:25). And again, Matthew is 
the only one that informs us of the enmity of Israel 
pursuing their Messiah even after His death — see 
27 :62-64. 

The closing chapter of this Gospel is equally strik- 
ing. No mention is made by Matthew of the Ascen- 
sion of Christ. This, too, is in perfect accord with 
the theme and scope of this Gospel. The curtain 
falls here with the Messiah still on earth, for it is on 
earth, and not in heaven, that the Son of David shall 
yet reign in glory. Here only is recorded the Lord's 
word, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in 
earth" (28:18) — for "power" is the outstanding 
mark of a king. Finally, the closing verses form 
a fitting conclusion, for they view Christ, on a 
"mountain," commanding and commissioning His 
servants to go forth and disciple the nations, ending 
with the comforting assurance, "Lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the Age." 



THE GOSPEL OF MARK. 



THE GOSPEL OF MARK. 



fjfflr^ ARK'S Gospel differs widely from Mat- 
tr Ivy chew's, both ^ n character and scope. The 
j ' 4l contrasts between them are marked and 
many. Matthew has twenty-eight chapters, Mark 
but sixteen. Matthew abounds in parables, Mark 
records but few. Matthew portrays Christ as the Son 
of David, Mark delineates Him as the humble but 
perfect Servant of Jehovah. Matthew is designed 
particularly (not exclusively) for the Jew, whereas 
Mark is specially appropriate for Christian workers. 
Matthew sets forth the Kingly dignity and authority 
of Christ, Mark views Him in His lowliness and 
meekness. Matthew depicts Him as testing Israel, 
Mark shows Him ministering to the Chosen People. 
This is one reason why, no doubt, that Mark's Gos- 
pel is the second book in the New Testament — like 
Matthew's, it views Him in connection with the 
Old Testament people of God. Luke's Gospel, has a 
wider scope, looking at Christ in relation to the 
human race. While in John, He is shown to be the 
Son of God, spiritually related to the household of 
faith. In turning now to look at the contents of 
this second Gospel in some detail, we would notice, 

I. Things Omitted from Mark's Gospel. 

1, Just as the skill of a master artist is discovered 
in the objects which he leaves out of his picture (the 
amateur crowding in everything on to the canvass 
for which he can find room), so the discerning eye 
at once detects the handiwork of the Holy Spirit in 
the various things which are included and omitted 



62 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



from different parts of the Word. Notably is this 
the case with Mark's Gospel. Here we find no Gene- 
alogy at the commencement, as in Matthew; the 
miraculous Conception is omitted, and there is no 
mention made of His Birth. Fancy a whole Gospel 
written and yet no reference to the Saviour's birth 
in it ! At first glance this is puzzling, but a little re- 
flection assures one of the Divine wisdom which di- 
rected Mark to say nothing about it. Once we see 
what is the special design of each separate Gospel, we 
are the better enabled to appreciate their individual 
perfections. The birth of Christ did not fall within 
the compass of this second Gospel, nor did the record 
of His genealogy. Mark is presenting Christ as 
the Servant of Jehovah, and in connection with a 
servant a genealogy or particulars of birth are scarce- 
ly points of interest or importance. But how this 
demonstrates the Divine Authorship of the books of 
the Bible! Suppose the Genealogy had been omit- 
ted by Matthew, and inserted by Mark, then, the 
unity of each Gospel would be destroyed. But just 
as the Creator placed each organ of the body in the 
wisest possible place, so the Holy Spirit guided in 
the placing of each book in the Bible (each member 
in this Living Organism), and each detail of each 
book. For the same reason as the Genealogy is omit- 
ted, nothing is said by Mark of the visit of the wise 
men, for a "servant" is not one that receives hom- 
age! Mark also passes over what Luke tells us of 
Christ as a boy of twelve in the temple of Jerusalem, 
and His subsequent return to Nazareth, where He 
continued in subjection to His parents, for, while 
these are points of interest in connection with His 
humanity, they were irrelevent to a setting forth of 
His Servanthood. 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



63 



2. In Mark's Gospel we find no Sermon on the 
Mount. Matthew devotes three whole chapters to it, 
but Mark records it not, though some of its teach- 
ings are found in other connections in this second 
Gospel. Why, then, we may ask, is this important 
utterance of Christ omitted by Mark? The answer 
must be sought in the character and design of the 
"Sermon." As we have pointed out, the Sermon on 
the Mount contains the King's Manifesto. It sets 
forth the laws of His Kingdom, and describes the 
character of those who are to be its subjects. But 
Mark is presenting Christ as the perfect Workman 
of God, and a servant has no "Kingdom," and 
frames no "laws." Hence the appropriateness of the 
"Sermon" in Matthew, and the Divine wisdom in its 
exclusion from Mark. 

3. Mark records fewer Parables than Matthew. 
In Mark there are but four all told, whereas in Mat- 
thew there are at least fourteen. Mark says noth- 
ing about the Householder hiring laborers for His 
vineyard, claiming the right to do as He wills with 
that which is His own ; for, as God's Servant, He is 
seen in the place of the Laborer, instead of in the 
position where He hires others. Mark omits all 
reference to the parable of the Marriage of the 
King's Son, at the close of which He is seen giving 
orders for the man without the wedding-garment to 
be bound and cast into the outer darkness — such is 
not the prerogative of a Servant. All reference to 
the parable of the Talents is omitted by Mark, for 
as God's Servant He neither gives talents nor re- 
wards for the use of them. Each of these parables, 
and many others all found in Matthew, are excluded 
by Mark, and their omission only serves to bring 
out the minute perfections of each Gospel. 



64 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



If. In Mark nothing whatever is said of Christ's 
command over angels, and His right to send them 
forth to do His bidding; instead we find here "the 
angels ministered unto Him 77 (1:13). 

5. Here there is no arraignment of Israel, and 
no sentence is passed upon Jerusalem as in the other 
Gospels. Again, in Matt. 23 the "Son of David" ut- 
ters a most solemn sevenfold "Woe" — "Woe unto 
you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites/' "Woe unto 
you, ye blind guides" etc., He says there; but not a 
word of this is found in Mark. The reason for this 
is obvious. It is not the part of the Servant to pass 
judgment on others, but "to be gentle unto all, apt 
to teach, patient" (2 Tim. 2:24). We have another 
striking illustration of this same characteristic in 
connection with our Lord cleansing the Temple. In 
Matt. 21:12 we read, "And Jesus went into the tem- 
ple of God, and cast out all them that sold and 
bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of 
the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold 
doves," and immediately following this we are told, 
"And He left them, and went out of the city into 
Bethany: and He lodged there" (21:17). But in 
Mark it is simply said, "And Jesus entered into Je- 
rusalem, and into the temple: and when He had 
looked round about upon all things, and now the 
eventide was come, He went out unto Bethany with 
the twelve" (11:11). Mark is clearly writing of 
the same incident. He refers to the Lord entering 
the temple, but says nothing about Him casting out 
those who bought and sold there, nor of Him over- 
throwing the tables. How striking is this omission. 
As the Messiah and Kin? it was fitting that He 
should cleanse the defiled Temple, but in His char- 
acter of Servant it would have been incongruous! 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



65 



6. The omission of so many of the Divine titles 
from this second Gospel is most significant. In Mark, 
He is never owned as "King" save in derision. In 
Mark, we do not read, as in Matthew, "They shall 
call His name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, 
God with us," and only once is He here termed 
"the Son of David." It is very striking to observe 
how the Holy Spirit has avoided this in the second 
Gospel. In connection with the "Triumphant En- 
try into Jerusalem," when recording the acclama- 
tions of the people, Matthew says, "And the multi- 
tudes that went before, and that followed, cried, say- 
ing, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He 
that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in 
the highest" (21:9). But in Mark's account we 
read, "And they that went before, and they that fol- 
lowed, cried, saying, Hosanna: Blessed is He that 
cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the 
Kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the 
name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest" (11:9, 
10). Thus it will be seen that the Servant of God 
was not hailed here as "the Son of David." Side 
by side with this, should be placed the words used 
by our Lord when announcing, a week beforehand, 
His "transfiguration." In Matthew's account, we 
read that He told His disciples, "Verily I say unto 
you, There be some standing here, which shall not 
taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming 
in His Kingdom." But, here in Mark, we are told 
that He said to the disciples, "Verily I say unto you, 
That there be some of them that stand here, which 
shall not taste of death, till they have seen the King- 
dom of God come with power" (9:1). How sig- 
nificant this is! Here it is simply the "Kingdom 



66 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



of God" that is spoken of, instead of Christ's own 
Kingdom ! 

But that which is most noteworthy here in con- 
nection with the titles of Christ, is the fact that He 
is so frequently addressed as "Master/' when, in the 
parallel passages in the other Gospels, He is owned 
as "Lord." For example: in Matt. 8:25 we read, 
"And His disciples came to Him, and awoke Him, 
saying, Lord, save us; we perish;'' but in Mark, 
"And they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, 
carest Thou not that we perish?" (4:38). Follow- 
ing the announcement of His coming death, Mat- 
thew tells us, "Then Peter took Him, and began to 
rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord : this 
shall not be unto Thee" (16:22). But in Mark it 
reads, "And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke 
Him" (8:32), and there it stops. On the Mount of 
Transfiguration, Peter said, "Lord, it is good for us 
to be here" (17:4) ; but Mark says, "And Peter an- 
swered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us 
to be here" (9:5). When the Saviour announced 
that one of the Twelve would betray Him, Matthew 
tells us, "And they were exceeding sorrowful, and 
began every one of them to say unto Him, Lord, 
is it I?" (26:22); but Mark tells us, "And they 
began to be sorrowful, and to say unto Him, one 
by" one, "Is it I?" (14:19). These are but a few 
of the examples which might be adduced, but suf- 
ficient have been given to bring out this striking 
and most appropriate feature of Mark's Gospel. 

7. It is deeply interesting and instructive to note 
the various circumstances and events connected with 
our Lord's sufferings which are omitted from Mark. 
Here, as He entered the awful darkness of Gethsem- 
ane, He says to the three disciples, "Tarry ye here, 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



67 



and watch" (14:34), not "watch with Me/' as in 
Matthew, for as the Servant He turns only to God 
for comfort; and here, nothing is said at the close, of 
an angel from Heaven appearing and "strengthen- 
ing" Him, for as Servant He draws strength from 
God alone. No mention is made by Mark of Pilate's 
"I find no fault in Him," nor are we told of Pilate's 
wife counselling her husband to have nothing to do 
with "this Just Man," nor do we read here of Judas 
returning to the priests, and saying, "I have be- 
trayed innocent blood;" all of these are omitted by 
Mark, for the Servant must look to God alone for 
vindication. Nothing is said in Mark of the women 
following Christ as He was led to the place of exe- 
cution, "bewailing and lamenting Him" (Luke 23: 
27), for sometimes the suffering Servant of God is 
denied the sympathy of others. The words of the 
dying thief, "Lord, remember me when Thou eom- 
est into Thy Kingdom" are here omitted, for in this 
Gospel, Christ is neither presented as "Lord" nor as 
One having a "Kingdom." The Saviour's triumph- 
ant cry from the Cross, "It is finished" is also omit- 
ted. At first sight this seems strange, but a little 
reflection will discover the Divine wisdom for its ex- 
clusion. It is not for the Servant to say when his 
work is finished — that is for God to decide ! We pass 
on now to notice 

II. Things whicpi are Characteristic of Mark. 

1. Mark's Gospel opens in a manner quite dif- 
ferent from the others. In Matthew, Luke and 
John, there is what may be termed a lengthy In- 
troduction, but in Mark it is quite otherwise. Mat- 
thew records Christ's genealogy, His birth, the vis- 
it and homage of the wise men, the flight into 



6S 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



Egypt, and subsequent return and sojourn in Naz- 
areth; describes at length both His baptism and 
temptation, and not till we reach the end of the 
fourth chapter do we arrive at His public ministry. 
Luke opens with some interesting details concerning 
the parentage of John the Baptist, describes at 
length the interview between the angel and the Sa- 
viour's mother previous to His birth, records her 
beautiful Song, tells of the angelic visitation to the 
Bethlehem shepherds at Christ's birth, pictures the 
presentation of the Child in the temple, and refers 
to many other things; and not until we reach the 
fourth chapter do we come to the public ministry 
of the Redeemer. So, too, in John. There is first 
a lengthy Prologue, in which is set forth the Divine 
glories of the One who became flesh; then follows 
the testimony of His forerunner to the Divine dig- 
nity of the One he had come to herald; then we 
have described a visit to John of a delegation sent 
from Jerusalem to inquire as to who he was; final- 
ly, there is the witness of the Baptist to Christ as the 
Lamb of God: and all this before we here read of 
Him calling His first disciples. But how entirely 
different is the opening of the second Gospel. Here 
there is but a brief notice of the Baptist and his 
testimony, a few words concerning Christ's bap- 
tism and His temptation, and then in the fourteenth 
verse of the first chapter we read, "Now after that 
John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, 
preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God." The 
first thirty years of His life here on earth are 
passed over in silence, and Mark at once introduces 
Christ at the beginning of His public ministry. 
Mark presents Christ actually serving. 

2. The opening verse of Mark is very striking: 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



69 



"The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the 
Son of God." Observe, it is not here "the Gospel 
of the Kingdom" (as in Matthew), but "the Gospel 
of Jesus Christ." How significant that it is added 
"the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God/' Thus 
has the Holy Spirit guarded His Divine glory in 
the very place where His lowliness as the "Servant" 
is set forth. It is also to be remarked that this word 
"Gospel" is found much more frequently in Mark 
than in any of the other Gospels. The term "Gos- 
pel" occurs twelve times in all in Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, and John, and no less than eight of these are 
found in Mark, so that the word "Gospel" is found 
twice as often in Mark as in the other three added 
together! The reason for this is obvious: as the 
Servant of Jehovah, the Lord Jesus w r as the Bearer 
of good news, the Herald of glad tidings! What a 
lesson to be taken to heart by all of the servants of 
God to-day! 

3. Another characteristic term which occurs 
with even greater frequency in this second Gospel 
is the Greek word "Eutheos," which is variously 
translated "forthwith, straightway, immediately" 
etc. Notice a few of the occurrences of this word in 
the first chapter alone: "And straightway coming 
up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, 
and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him" 
(v. 10). "And immediately the Spirit driveth Him 
into the wilderness" (v. 12). "And when He had 
gone a little farther thence, He saw James the son 
of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in 
the ship mending their nets, And straightway He 
called them" (w. 19,20). "And they went into 
Capernaum; and straightway on the sabbath day 
He entered into the synagogue, and taught" (v. 21). 



70 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS ! 



"And forthwith when they were come out of the 
synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon" 
(v. 29). "And He came and took her by the hand, 
and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left 
her' 7 (v. 31). "And He straightly charged him, and 
forthwith sent him away'' (v. 43). In all, this word 
is found no less than forty times in Mark's Gos- 
pel. It is a most suggestive and expressive term, 
bringing out the perfections of God's Servant by 
showing us how He served. There was no tardiness 
about Christ's service, but '"straightway" He was 
ever about His "Father's business." There was no 
delay, but "forthwith'' He performed the work giv- 
en Him to do. This word tells of the promptitude 
of His service and the urgency of His mission. There 
was no holding back, no reluctance, no slackness, 
but a blessed "immediateness" about all His work. 
Well may we learn from this perfect example 
which He has left us. 

J h The way in which so many of the chapters 
open in this second Gospel is worthy of our close 
attention. Turn to the first verse of chapter 2, "And 
again He entered into Capernaum after some days." 
Again, the first verse of chapter 3, "And He entered 
again into the synagogue." So in 4:1, "And He be- 
gan again to teach by the seaside." So in 5 :1, "And 
they came over unto the other side of the sea." 
This is seemingly a trivial point, and yet, how 
unique! It is now more than ten years since the 
writer first observed this feature of Mark's Gospel, 
and since then, many hundreds of books, of various 
sorts, have been read by him. but never once has he 
seen a single book of human authorship which had 
in it one chapter that commenced with the word 
"And." Test this, reader, by your own library. 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? * 71 



Yet here in Mark's Gospel no less than twelve of its 
chapters begin with "And" I 

"And/ 3 as we know, is a conjunction joining to- 
gether two other part- of speech; it is that which 
links two or more things together. The service of 
Christ, then, was characterized by that which "And" 
signifies. In other words. His service was one com- 
plete and perfect whole, v?iih no breaks in it. Ah, 
how unlike ours! Yours and mine is so disjointed. 
We serve God for a time, and then there comes a 
slackening up, a pause, a break, which is followed 
by a period of inactivity, before we begin again. But 
not so with Christ. His service was a series of per- 
fect acts, fitly joined together, without a break or 
blemish. "And, 7 " then, as characterizing the serv- 
ice of Christ, tells of ceaseless activity. It speaks of 
the continuity of His labors. It shows us how He 
was "instant in season and out of season.*' It re- 
veals how He never grew weary of well doing. May 
God's grace cause the "And" to have a more prom- 
inent place in our service for Him. 

5. In the former section we have pointed out 
how that Mark records fewer parables than Mat- 
thew, and we may add, fewer than Luke too. But, 
on the other hand, Mark describes more miracles. 
This, also, is in keeping with the design and scope 
of this second Gospel. Parables contained our Lord's 
teachings, whereas the miracles w^ere a part of His 
active ministry. Service consists more of deeds than 
teaching, doing rather than speaking. How often 
our service is more with our lips than our hands. 
We are big talkers and little doers ! 

Mark records just four parables, and it is a most 
significant thing that each of them has to do, di- 
rectly, with service. The first is the parable of the 



72 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



Sower, and this views the Saviour as going forth 
with the Word (4:3-20). The second parable is 
that of the Seed cast into the ground, which sprang 
up and grew, and brought forth first the blade, then 
the ear after that the full corn in the ear, and 
finally was harvested (4:26-29). The third parable 
is that of the Mustard-seed (4:30-32). The fourth 
is that of the Wicked Husbandmen who mistreat- 
ed the Owner's servants, and ended by killing His 
well-beloved Son (12:1-9). Thus it will be seen, 
that each has to do with ministry or service: the 
first three with sowing Seed, and the last with the 
Servant going forth "that He might receive of the 
husbandman of the fruit of the vineyard.''' 

6. In Mark's Gospel, the hand of Christ is fre- 
quently mentioned, and this is peculiarly appropri- 
ate in the Gospel which treats of His service. It 
might well be termed, the Ministry of the Hand. 
How prominent this feature is here may be seen by 
consulting the following passages. "And He came 
and took her by the hand, and lifted her up: and 
immediately the fever left her" (1:31). "And Je- 
sus, moved with compassion, put forth His hand, 
and touched him, and saith unto him. I will; be 
thou clean" (1:41). "And He took the damsel by 
the hand, and said unto her. Talitha cumi: which 
is. being interpreted. Damsel. I say unto thee, arise" 
(5:41). "And they bring unto Him one that was 
deaf, and had an impediment in his speech: and 
they beseech Him to put His hand upon him" (7: 
32). How beautiful is this. Divinely enlightened, 
these people had learned of the tenderness and vir- 
tue of His hand. Again we read, ''And He Com- 
eth to Bethsaida : and they brine a blind man unto 
Him. and besought Him to touch him" (8:22). 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



73 



They, too. had discovered the blessedness and power 
of His touch. "And He took the blind man by the 
hand, and led him out of the town. * * After that 
He put His hands again upon his eyes, and made 
him look up : and he was restored, and saw every 
man clearly''' (8:23, 25). Once more we read, "'But 
Jesus took him by the- hand, and lifted, him up: and 
he arose*' (9:27). How blessed for every believer to 
know that he is safely held in that same blessed 
Hand (John 10:28). 

7. The Holy Spirit has also called special at- 
tention in this Gospel to the eyes of the perfect 
Servant. "And when He had looked round about 
on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness 
of their hearts" (3:5). How those Holy eyes must 
have flashed upon those who would condemn Him 
for healing on the Sabbath day the man with the 
withered hand! "And He looked round about on 
them which sat about Him. and said. Behold My 
mother and My brethren ! For whosoever shall do 
the will of God. the same is My brother, and My 
sister, and My mother" (3:34.35). This time the 
Saviour's eyes were turned upon His disciples, and 
what love must have appeared in them as He turned 
and beheld those who had forsaken all to follow 
Him! "But when He had turned about and looked 
on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee 
behind Me. Satan'-' (8:33). What a touch in the 
picture is this — before He rebuked Peter. He, first, 
turned, and "'looked'' on His disciples! Concerning 
the rich young ruler who came to Him. we read here 
(and here only)," Then Jesus beholding him, loved 
him" (10:21). What Divine pity and compassion 
must have shone in His eves at that moment ! So 
again in 11:11 we read. "And Jesus entered into Je- 



74 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS'? 



rusalem, and into the temple, and when He had 
looked round upon all things, and now the eventide 
was come, He went out into Bethany with the 
twelve." How those eyes must have blazed with 
righteous indignation, as He beheld the desecration 
of the Father's house! These passages which men- 
tion the Saviour "looking" and "beholding", tell us 
of His thoughtfulness, His attention to detail, His 
thoroughness. Next we will notice, 

III. The Manner in which Christ Served. 

In order to discover the manner in which Christ 
served, we must examine closely the details of what 
the Holy Spirit has recorded here for our learning 
and profit, and for the benefit of our readers we shall 
classify those under suitable headings. 

1. Christ served with marked Unostentation. 

"And Simon and they that were with him fol- 
lowed after Him. And when they had found Him, 
they said unto Him, All men seek for Thee. And 
He said unto them, Let us go into the next towns, 
that I may preach there also: for therefore came I 
forth" (Mark 1:36-38). This incident occurred near 
the beginning of our Lord's public ministry. He 
had wrought some mighty works, many of the sick 
had been healed, and His fame had gone abroad. In 
consequence, great throngs of people sought for 
Him. He was, for a brief season, the popular Idol 
of the hour. But what was His response? Instead 
of remaining where He was to receive the plaudits 
of a fickle crowd, He moves away to preach in other 
towns. How unlike many of us to day! When we 
are well received, when we become the center of an 
admiring crowd, our desire is to remain there. Such 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



75 



a reception is pleasing to the flesh ; it panders to our 
pride. We like to boast of the crowds that attend 
our ministry. But the perfect Servant of God never 
courted popularity, He shunned it! And when His 
disciples came and told Him — no doubt with pleas- 
urable pride — "All men seek for Thee/ ' His im- 
mediate response was, "Let us go"! 

At the close of Mark 1 we read of a leper being 
cleansed by the great Physician, and, dismissing 
him, He said, "See thou say nothing to any man: 
but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer 
for thy cleansing those things which Moses com- 
manded, for a testimony unto them." How utter- 
ly unlike many of His servants to day, who spare 
no pains or expense to advertise themselves! How 
entirely different we are from the One who said, "I 
receive not honor from men" (John 5:41)! No; 
He ever wrought with an eye single to God's glory. 
Notice, farther, how T this comes out again in the 
sequel to the above miracle. The healed leper heed- 
ed not the admonition of his Benefactor, instead, 
we read, "But he went out, and began to publish it 
much, and to blaze abroad the matter." How grat- 
ifying this would have been to most of us ! But not 
so with Him who sought only the Father's glory. 
Instead of following the man who had been healed, 
to become the Object of the admiring gaze and flat- 
tering remarks of the leper's friends and neighbors, 
we read, that "Jesus could no more openly enter 
into the city, but ivas without in desert places"! Are 
we not to learn from this, that when people begin to 
"blaze abroad" what God has wrought through us, it 
is time for us to move on, lest we receive the honor 
and glory which is due Him alone ! 

In full harmony with what has just been before 



76 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



us in the closing verses of Mark 1, we read in the 
first verses of the next chapter, "And again He en- 
tered into Capernaum, after some days, and it was 
noised that He was in the house/' for, evidently, the 
healed leper belonged to that highly favored town. 
Hence it was that we here find Him seeking the 
privacy and quietude of the "house." So again in 
3:19 we read, "And they (Christ and the apostles) 
went into an house/' His reason for doing this, here, 
was to escape from the crowd, as is evident from the 
words which immediately follow, "And the multi- 
tude cometh together again. 77 Again in 7:17 we are 
told, "And when He was entered into the house 
from the people. 77 His life was not lived before the 
footlights, but quietly and unobtrusively He went 
about doing the Father 7 s will. What a word is this 
— "And when He was entered into the house from 
the people"! And how different from some of His 
servants today, whose one great aim seems to be the 
seeking of the patronage of "the people, 77 and the 
soliciting of their favors! So, again in 9:28 we read, 
"And when He was come into the house, His dis- 
ciples asked Him privately, Why could not we cast 
him out? 77 (9:28). And once more in 9:33, we 
read "And He came to Capernaum: and being in 
the house He asked them, What was it that ye dis- 
puted among yourselves by the way? 77 Mark, we 
may add, is the only one of the four Evangelists 
that makes this repeated reference to "the house. 77 
It is just one of the smaller lines in the picture that 
serves to bring out the Unostentation of the perfect 
Servant. 

In the closing verses of Mark 7 we have recorded 
the miracle of Christ restoring one that was deaf and 
had an impediment in his speech. And in chapter 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



77 



eight is recorded the healing of the blind man, who, 
at the first touch of the Lord's hands saw men as 
trees walking, but who, at the second touch "saw 
every man clearly. 7 ' Mark is the only one that re- 
cords either of these miracles. One reason for their 
inclusion here, is seen in a feature that is common 
to them both. In 7 :36 we are told, "And He charged 
them that they should tell no man: but the more He 
charged them, so much the more a great deal they 
published it." Concerning the latter we read, "And 
He sent him away to his house, saying, Neither go 
into the town, nor tell it to any in the town" (8 :26) . 
What a lesson for all of us: perfect service is ren- 
dered to God alone, and often is unseen, unappreci- 
ated, unthanked by man. The Servant of Jehovah 
threw a veil over His gracious acts. 

£. Christ served with great Tenderness, 

This comes out so often in this second Gospel. We 
single out four examples, and the better to appreci- 
ate them, we quote first the parallel references in 
the other Gospels, before noticing Mark's account. 
"And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great 
fever; and they besought Him for her. And He 
stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left 
her; and immediately she arose and ministered un- 
to them" (Luke 4:38,39). "But Simon's wife's 
mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell Him 
of her. And He came and took her by the hand, 
and lifted her up; and immediately the fever left 
her, and she ministered unto them" (Mk. 1:30, 31). 
What a beautiful line in the picture is this ! How it 
shows us that Christ's service w T as no mere per- 
functory one, performed with mechanical indiffer- 
ence, but that He came near to those to whom He 



78 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



ministered and entered, sympathetically, into their 
condition. 

In Luke 9 we read of the father who sought out 
the Lord Jesus on behalf of his demon-possessed son, 
and in healing him we read, "And Jesus rebuked 
the unclean spirit, and healed the child, and deliv- 
ered him again to his father" (9:42). But Mark 
brings into his picture a characteristic line which 
Luke omitted, "But Jesus took him by the hand, 
and lifted him up, and he arose" (9:27). There 
was no aloofness about the perfect Servant. How 
this rebukes the assumed self-superiority of those 
who think it beneath their dignity to shake hands 
with those to whom they have ministered the Word ! 
To take some people "by the hand" is to get nearer 
their hearts. Let us seek to serve as Christ did. 

In Matt. 18:2 we read, "And Jesus called a little 
child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them." 
But on another occasion, Mark tells us, "And He 
took a child, and set him in the midst of them : and 
when He had taken him in His arms, He said unto 
them" (9:36). Again, in Matt. 19:13-15 we are told, 
"Then were there brought unto Him little chil- 
dren, that He should put His hands on them, and 
pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus 
said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to 
come unto Me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 
And He laid His hands on them, and departed 
thence." But once more we may observe how that 
Mark adds a line all his own, "And they brought 
young children to Him, that He should touch them : 
and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. 
But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, 
and said unto them, Suffer the little children to 
come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



79 



is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Who- 
soever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a 
little child, he shall not enter therein. And He took 
them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, 
and blessed them" (10:13-16). What tenderness 
do these acts display! And what an example He 
has left us ! 

3. Christ served encountering great Opposition. 

Here we shall take a rapid review of Mark's ref- 
erence to this feature of his theme, instead of com- 
menting on each passage, though a remark here and 
there will, perhaps, not be out of place. 

"But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, 
and reasoning in their hearts (there are usually a 
few such in most congregations), Why does this 
man thus speak blasphemies ?" (2:6, 7). "And when 
the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with publi- 
cans and sinners, they said unto His disciples, How 
is it that He eateth and drinketh with publicans 
and sinners?" (2:16). "And the Pharisees said un- 
to Him, behold, why do they on the sabbath day 
that which is not lawful?" (2:24). The servant of 
God must expect to be mis-understood and encounter 
criticism and opposition. "And they ivatched Him 
whether He would heal him on the sabbath day" 
(3:2). And the servant of God is still watched by 
unfriendly eyes! "And the Pharisees went forth, and 
straightway took counsel with the Herodians against 
Him, how they might destroy Him" (3:6). Every 
faction of the people was "against" Him. "And the 
scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He 
hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the demons 
casteth He out demons" (3:22). The servant may 
expect to be called hard names. "And they began 



80 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



to pray Him to depart out of their coasts" (5:17). 
Christ was not wanted. His testimony condemned 
His hearers. So will it be now with every servant 
of God that is faithful. "And they laughed Him to 
scorn" (5:40). To be sneered and jeered at, then, 
is nothing new: sufficient for the disciple to suffer 
what his Master did before him. "And they were 
offended at Him" (6 :3) . The Christ of God did not 
suit everybody ; far from it. But let us see to it that 
we give none other occasion for "offence" than He 
did ! "And He could there do no mighty work, save 
that He laid His hands upon a feiv sick folk, and 
healed them" (6:5). The servant of God will come 
to some places which are unfavorable for effective 
ministry, and where the unbelief of the profest peo- 
ple of the Lord will hinder the Spirit of God." Then 
came together unto Him the Pharisees, and certain 
of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And 
when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with 
defiled, that is to say, with unwashen hands, they 
found fault" (7:1,2). Nevertheless, the Lord Je- 
sus declined to respect their "traditions," refusing to 
allow His disciples to be brought into bondage thus. 
Well for God's servants now if they disregard the 
"touch not, taste not, handle not" of men, yet must 
they be prepared to be "found fault" with as the re- 
sult. "And the Pharisees came forth, and began to 
question with Him, seeking of Him a sign from 
heaven, tempting Him" (8:11). So, too, will the 
emissaries of the Enemy seek now to entangle and 
ensnare the servants of God. Compare Mark 10:2. 
"And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and 
sought how they might destroy Him : for they feared 
Him, because all the people was astonished at His 
doctrine" (11:18). They were jealous of His influ- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



81 



ence. And human nature has not changed since 
then! "And they come again to Jerusalem: and as 
He was walking in the temple, there came to Him 
the chief priests and the scribes, and the elders. And 
say unto Him, By what authority doest Thou these 
things? and who gave Thee this authority ?" (11: 
27,28). How history repeats itself! From what 
College have you graduated? and in which Sem- 
inary were you trained? are the modern form of 
this query. "And they sent unto Him certain of 
the Pharisees, and of the Herodians, to catch Him 
in His words' (12:13). And some of their de- 
scendants still survive, and woe be to the man who 
fails to pronounce their shiboleths! What a list 
this is! and we have bv no means exhausted it: see 
further 12:18; 12:28; 14:1 etc. All the way 
through, the perfect Servant of God was dogged by 
His enemies; at every step He encountered opposi- 
tion and persecution in some form. And these 
things are all recorded for our instruction. The 
Enemy is not dead. God's servants today are called 
to tread a similar path. 

4- Christ Served with much Self -Sacrifice. 

"And the multitude cometh together again, so 
that they could not so much as eat bread" (3:20). 
So thoroughly was He at the disposal of others. 
How completely did He know what it was to spend 
and be spent ! 

"And the same day, when the even was come, He 
saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other 
side. And when they had sent away the multitude, 
they took Him, even as He was into the ship" (4: 
35,36). How touching is this! A study of the 
context, with the parallel passages in the other Gos- 



S2 



"WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



pel, shows this evening here was the close of a busy 
and crowded day. From early morn till sunset, the 
Master had been ministering to others, and now He 
is so weary and worn from His labors He had to be 
"taken" — led and lifted — into the ship! "Even as 
He was" — how much do these words cover? Ah, 
Christian worker, next time you come to the close of 
a full day of service for G'od, and your mind is tired 
and your nerves are quivering, remember that thy 
Lord, before thee, knew what it was to lay down (see 
4:38) so tired that even the storm awoke Him not I 
"And He said unto them, Come ye yourselves 
apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there 
were many coming and going, and they had NO 
leisure so much as to eat" (6:31). That is how the 
perfect Workman of God served. Ever attent in be- 
ing about His Father's business: no rest, no leisure, 
at times so thronged that He went without His 
meals. 

Christ's service cost Him something. Note how 
this comes out in the next quotations. "And when 
He had looked round about on them with anger, be- 
ing grieved for the hardness of their hearts" (3:5). 
He was no frigid Stoic. "And looking up to heaven 
He sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, 
Be opened" (7:34). Christ's service was not ren- 
dered formally and perfunctarily : but He entered, 
sympathetically, into the condition of the sufferer. 
"And He sighed deeply in His spirit, and saith, 
Why doth this generation seek after a sign?" (8: 
12). Thus did He take to heart the sad unbelief of 
those to whom He ministered. He suffered inward- 
ly as well as outwardly. 

"And the multitude cometh together again, so 
that they could not so much as eat bread. And when 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



83 



His friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold 
on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself (3: 
20.21). So incapable were they of entering into 
the thoughts of God. They sought to check Him in 
the accomplishing of God's will. Their purpose was 
well meant, no doubt, but it was a zeal "without 
knowledge.*' What a warning is this for all of 
God's servants. Watch out for well intentioned 
"friends" who, lacking in discernment, may seek to 
hinder the one who is completely yielded to God, 
and who. like the apostle Paul, "counts not his life 
dear unto himself '' (Acts 20:24). 

o. Christ Served in an Orderly manner. 

This comes out. in an incidental way, in several 
statements which are found only in Mark. We sin- 
gle out but two. In 6:7 we read, "And He called 
unto Him the twelve, and began to send them forth 
by two and two." Again: when about to feed the 
hungering multitude, we are here told. "And He 
commanded them to make them all sit down by 
companies upon the green grass. And they sat 
down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties" (6:39, 
40). What attention to details was this! And how 
it rebukes much of our slipshod work! If Scrip- 
ture enjoins, "Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do, 
do it with thy might.'' then, surely our service for 
God calls for our most careful and prayerful atten- 
tion! God is never the author of "confusion," as 
Christ's example here plainly shows. 

6. Chrisfs Service was prompted by Love. 

"And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth 
His hand, and touched him (the leper), and said 
unto him, I will: be thou clean 7 ' (1:41). "And Je- 
sus, when He came out, saw much people, and was 



84 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



moved with compassion toward them, because they 
were as sheep not having a shepherd ; and He began 
to teach them many things" (6:34). "I have com- 
passion on the multitude, because they have now 
been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat" 
(8:1). Mark is the only one of the Evangelists that 
brings this lovely and touching line into the picture. 
And how it rebukes the writer for his hardness 
of heart, and cold indifference to the perishing all 
around! How little real "compassion" one finds 
today! "Then Jesus beholding him (the rich young 
man) loved him" (Mark 10:21). Mark is the only 
one who tells us this, as though to show that without 
"love" service is barren. 

7. Chrisfs Service was preceded by Prayer. 

"And in the morning, rising up a great while be- 
fore day, He went out, and departed into a solitary 
place, and there prayed" (1:35). Mark is the only 
one that records this. And how significant that this 
statement is placed in his first chapter, as though to 
let us into the secret of the uniqueness and perfect- 
ness of Christ's service! 

There is much more that is peculiar to this second 
Gospel which we now pass over. In closing here we 
would call attention to the manner in which Mark 
concludes: — "And they (the apostles) went forth, 
and preached everywhere, the Lord working with 
them, and confirming the Word with signs follow- 
ing. Amen" (16:20). How significant and ap- 
propriate! The last view we have here of God's 
perfect Servant, He is still "working," now, not 
alone, but "with them" His servants. 

Our study of this lovely view of Christ will have 
been in vain, unless it has brought home to our 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



85 



hearts with new power the admonition of God 
through His apostle, "Therefore, my beloved breth- 
ren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding 
m the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that 
your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (ICor. 15: 
58). 



THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. 



THE GOSPEL OF LUKE. 



HE numerical position which Luke occupies 
lQ\ in the Sacred Canon, supplies a sure key to 
its interpretation. It is the third book in the 
New Testament, and the forty-second in the Bible 
as a whole. Each of these numbers are profoundly 
significant and suggestive in this connection. Three 
is the number of manifestation, and particularly, 
the manifestation of God and His activities. It is in 
the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity that the 
one true and living God is fully revealed. Hence, 
also, three is the number of resurrection, for resur- 
rection is when life is fully manifested. Appropri- 
ately, then, is Luke's Gospel the third book of the 
New Testament, for here it is we are shown, as no- 
where else so fully, God manifest in flesh. But 
Luke's Gospel is also the forty-second book in the 
Bible as a whole, and this is, if possible, even more 
significant, for 42 is 7 x 6, and seven stands for per- 
fection while six is the number of man : putting the 
two together we get the Perfect Man! And this is 
precisely what the Holy Spirit brings before us in 
this forty-second book of the Bible. What an evi- 
dence this is, not only of the Divine inspiration of 
Scripture but, that God has unmistakeably superin- 
tended the placing of the different books in the 
Sacred Canon just as we now have them! 

Luke's Gospel is concerned with the Humanity of 
our Lord. In Matthew, Christ is seen testing Israel, 
and that is why his Gospel has the first place in the 
New Testament, as being the necessary link with the 
Old. In Mark, Christ appears as serving Israel, and 



90 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



that is why his Gospel is given the second place. 
But in Luke, the writer's scope is enlarged: here 
Christ is seen in racial connections as the Son of 
Man, contrasted from the sons of men. In John, 
Christ's highest glory is revealed, for there He is 
viewed as the Son of God, and, as connected not with 
Israel, not with men as men, but with believers. 
Thus we may admire the Divine wisdom in the ar- 
rangement of the four Gospels, and see the beautiful 
gradation in their order. Matthew is designed spe- 
cially for the Jews; Mark is peculiarly suited to 
God's servants; Luke is adapted to men as men — all 
men; while John's is the one wherein the Church 
has found its chief delight. 

Luke's Gospel, then, is the Gospel of Christ's) 
Manhood. It shows us God manifest in flesh. It 
presents Christ as "The Son of Man." It views the 
Lord of glory as having come down to our level, en- 
tering into our conditions (sin excepted), subject to 
our circumstances, and living His life on the same 
plane as ours is lived. Yet, while He is here seen 
mingling with men, at every point He appears in 
sharp contrast from them. There w^as as great a dif- 
ference between Christ as the Son of Man, and any 
one of us as a son of man, as there is now between 
Him as the Son of God, and any believer as a son 
of God. That difference was not merely relative, 
but absolute; not simply incidental, but essential; 
not one of degree, but of kind. "The Son of Man" 
predicates the uniqueness of His humanity. The 
humanity of our Lord was miraculously begotten, it 
was intrinsically holy in its nature, and therefore, 
saw not corruption in death. As The Son of Man, 
He was born as none other ever was, He lived as 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



91 



none other ever did, and He died as none other 
ever could. 

The humanity of Christ, like everything else con- 
nected with His peerless person, needs to be dis- 
cussed with profound reverence and care. Specula- 
tion concerning it is profane. Rash conjectures 
about it must not be allowed for a moment. All 
that we can know about it is what has been revealed 
in the Scriptures. Had some of our theologians ad- 
hered more rigidly to what the Holy Spirit has said 
on the subject, had they exercised more care in 
"holding fast the form of sound words/' much that 
has been so dishonoring to our Lord had never been 
written. The person of the God-Man is not present- 
ed to our view for intellectual analysis, but for the 
worship of our hearts. It is not without good reason 
that we have been expressly warned, ''great is the 
Mvstery of Godliness. God was manifest in flesh" 
(ITim. 3:16). 

As we prayerfully examine the written word it 
will be found that Divine care has been taken to 
guard the perfections of our Lord's humanity, and 
to bring out its holy character. This appears not 
only in connection with the more direct references 
to His person, but also in the types and prophecies 
of the Old Testament. The "lamb," which portrayed 
Him as the appointed Sacrifice for sin, must be 
"without spot and blemish," and the very houses 
wherein the lamb was eaten, must have all leaven 
(emblem of evil) carefully excluded from them. 
The "manna," which spoke of Christ as the Food 
for God's people, is described as being "white" in 
color (Ex. 16:31). The Meal offering, which di- 
rectly pointed to the Humanity of Christ, was to be 
only of "fine flour" (Lev. 2:1), that is, flour without 



92 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



any grit or unevenness; moreover, it was to be pre- 
sented to the Lord accompanied with "oil" and 
"frankincense," which were emblems of the Holy 
Spirit, and the fragrance of Christ's person. Joseph, 
the most striking of all the personal types of the 
Lord Jesus, was, we are told, "A goodly person, and 
well favored" (Gen. 39:6). 

This same feature is noticeable in the prophecies 
which referred to the humanity of the Coming One. 
It was a "virgin" in whose womb He should be con- 
ceived (Is. 7:14). As the Incarnate One, God 
spake of Him thus: "Behold My Servant, whom I 
uphold; Mine Elect, in whom My soul delighteth; 
I have put My Spirit upon Him" (Is. 42 :1) . Touch- 
ing the personal excellencies of the Son of Man, 
the Spirit of prophecy exclaimed, "Thou art fairer 
than the children of men: grace is poured into Thy 
lips: therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever" (Ps. 
45:2). Concerning the Sinlessness of Him who was 
cut off out of the land of the living, it was affirmed, 
"He hath done no violence, neither was any deceit 
found in His mouth" (Is. 53:9). Looking forward 
to the time when His humanity should pass through 
death without corruption, it was said, "His leaf also 
shall not wither" (or "fade," margin), Ps. 1:3 — 
contrast with this, "We all do fade as a leaf" (Is. 
64:6). 

Coming now to the New Testament, we may ob- 
serve how carefully God has distinguished the Man 
Christ Jesus from all other men. In I Tim. 3:16 
we read, "Great is the mystery of godliness: God 
was manifest in the flesh." It is remarkable that in 
the Greek there is no definite article here: what the 
Holy Spirit really says is, "God was manifest in 
flesh." Manifest in "flesh" He was, but not in the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



93 



flesh, for that would point to fallen human nature, 
shared by all the depraved descendants of Adam. 
Not in the flesh, but in flesh, sinless and holy flesh, 
was God "manifest." the marvellous minute ac- 
curacy of Scripture ! In like manner we read again 
concerning the humanity of Christ, "What the law 
could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, 
God sending His own Son in the likeness of sin's 
flesh (Greek)" Rom. 8:3. The spotless and per- 
fect humanity of the Saviour was not sinful like 
ours, but only after its "likeness" or outward form. 
As Heb. 7 :26 declares He was "holy, harmless, un- 
defiled, separate from sinners/' Separate from sin- 
ners He was, both in the intrinsic quality of His 
humanitv, and in the perfect life He lived here. 
He "knew no sin" (2 Cor. 5:21) ; He "did not sin" 
(IPet. 2:22) ; He was "without sin" (Heb. 4:15) ; 
therefore could He say, "The prince of this world 
(Satan) cometh and hath nothing in Me" (John 
14:30). 

In keeping with the theme of Luke's Gospel, it is 
here we have the fullest particulars concerning the 
miraculous birth of the Lord Jesus. Here we read, 
"In the sixth month (how significant is this num- 
ber here, for six is the number of man) the angel 
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, 
called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man 
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and 
the virgin's name was Mary" (Luke 1:26,27). 
Twice over is it here recorded that Mary was a "vir- 
gin." Continuing, we read, "And the angel came in 
unto her, and said, Hail, thou art highly favored, 
the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among wom- 
en." This troubled Mary, for she wondered at this 
strange salutation. The angel continued, "Fear not, 



94 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, 
behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring 
forth a son, and shalt call His name Jesus.' ' In re- 
ply, Mary asked, "How shall this be, seeing I know 
not a man?" And the angel answered, "The Holy 
Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the 
Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that 
holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be 
called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). 

The coming of the Holy Spirit "upon" a person 
is always, in Scripture, to effect a supernatural, a 
Divine work. The promise of the angel to Mary 
that the power of the Highest should "overshadow" 
her, suggests a double thought: she should be pro- 
tected by God Himself, and how this promise was 
fulfilled Matt. 1:19, 20 informs us; while it is also a 
learning that the modus operandi of this miracle is 
hidden from us. The words of the angel to Mary 
"that holy thing which shall be born of thee," have 
been a sore puzzle to the commentators. Yet the 
meaning of this expression is very simple. It refers 
not, concretely, to our Lord's person, but instead, ab- 
stractly, to His humanity. It calls attention to the 
uniqueness of His humanity. It is in pointed con- 
trast from ours. Put these words of Luke 1 :35 over 
against another expression in Is. 64:6 and their 
meaning will be clear — We are all as an unclean 
thing/' Our human nature, looked at abstractly, 
(that is, apart from its personal acts) is, essentially, 
"unclean," whereas that which the Son of God took 
unto Himself, when He became incarnate, was es- 
sentially, "holy." It was not only sinless and in- 
capable of sinning (which is merely a negative af- 
firmation), but it was inherently and positively 
"holy" Therein the humanity of Christ differed 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



95 



from that of Adam. Adam, in his unf alien state, 
was merely innocent (a negative quality again), but 
Christ was holy. Perhaps it may be well for us to 
offer a few remarks at this point concerning the Sa- 
viour's "temptation." 

We are frequently hearing of preachers making 
the statement that our Lord could have yielded to 
the solicitations of Satan, and that to affirm He 
could not is to rob the account of His conflict with 
the Devil of all meaning. But this is not only a 
mistake, it is a serious error. It dishonors the per- 
son of our blessed Lord. It denies His impeccabil- 
ity. It impeaches His own declaration that Satan 
had "nothing" in Him — nothing to which he could 
appeal. If there had been a possibility of the Sa- 
viour yielding to the Devil that season in the wil- 
derness, then for forty days the salvation of all God's 
elect (to say nothing of the outworking of God's 
eternal purpose) ivas in jeopardy; and surely that is 
unthinkable. But, it is asked, If there was no pos- 
sibility of Christ yielding, wherein lay the force of 
the Temptation? If He could not sin, was it not a 
meaningless performance to allow Satan to tempt 
Christ at all? Such questions only betray the de- 
plorable ignorance of those who ask them. 

It ought to be well understood that the word 
"tempt" has a double significance, a primary and a 
secondary meaning, and it is the application of the 
secondary meaning of the term as it is used in Mat- 
thew 4 and the parallel passages, which has led so 
many into error on this point. The word "tempt" 
literally means "to stretch out" so as to try the 
strength of anything. It comes from the Latin 
word "tendo" — to stretch. Our English w T ord at- 
tempt, meaning to try, brings out its significance. 



96 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



"Tempt," then, primarily signifies "to try, test, put 
to the proof." It is only in its secondary meaning 
that it has come to signify "to solicit to evil." In 
Gen. 22:1 we read, "And it came to pass after these 
things, that God did tempt Abraham." But God 
did not solicit Abraham to evil, for, "God cannot be 
tempted with evil, neither tempteth He (in this 
sense) any man" (Jas. 1:13). So, too, we read, 
"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wil- 
derness to be tempted of the Devil" (Matt. 4:1). 
The purpose of this Temptation was not to discover 
whether or not the Saviour would yield to Satan, 
but to demonstrate that He could not. Its design 
was to display His impeccability, to show forth the 
fact that there was "nothing" in Him to which 
Satan could appeal. It was in order that Christ 
might be tried and proven: just as the more you 
crush a rose, the more its fragrance is evidenced, so 
the assaults of the Devil upon the God-Man only 
served the more to bring out His perfections, and 
thus reveal Him as fully qualified to be the Saviour 
of sinners. 

That the Saviour could not sin, does not rob the 
Temptation of its meaning, it only helps us discern 
its true meaning. It is because He was the Holy 
One of God that He felt the force of Satan's fiery 
darts as no sinful man ever could. It is impossible 
to find an analogy in the human realm for the Lord 
Jesus was absolutely unique. But let us attempt to 
illustrate the principle which is here involved. Is it 
true that in proportion as a man is weak morally 
that he feels the force of a temptation? Surely not. 
It is the man who is strong morally that feels the 
force of it. A man who is weakened in his moral 
fiber by sin, is weakened in his sensitiveness in the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



97 



presence of temptation. Why does the young be- 
liever ask, "How is it that since I became a Christian 
I am tempted to do wrong a hundred times more 
than I was formerly?'" The correct answer is, he 
is not; but the life of Christ within him has made 
him keener, quicker, more sensitive to the force of 
temptation. The illustration fails, we know; but 
seek to elevate the principle to an infinite height, 
and apply it to Christ, and then instead of saying 
that because He had no sin and could not sin His 
temptation, therefore, was meaningless, you will 
perhapvS discover a far deeper meaning in it, and ap- 
preciate as never before the force of the words, "He 
Himself hath suffered, being tempted" (Heb. 2:18). 
Should it be asked further : But does not this rob the 
Saviour of the capacity to sympathise with me when 
I am tempted? The answer is, A thousand times 
No! But it is to be feared that this last question is 
really an evasion. Does not the questioner, deep 
down in his heart, really mean, Can Christ sympa- 
thise with me when / yield to temptation? The 
question has only to be stated thus to answer it. Be- 
ing holy, Christ never sympathizes with sin or sin- 
ning. Here then is the vital difference: when 
Christ was tempted He "suffered/ 7 but when we are 
drawn away by temptation we enjoy it. If, how- 
ever, we seek grace to sustain us while we are under 
temptation, and are not drawn away by it, then 
shall we suffer too, but then we also have a merciful 
and faithful High Priest who is able, not only to 
sympathise with us but to, "succor them that are 
tempted" (Heb. 2:18). Our digression has been 
rather a lengthy one, but necessary, perhaps, in a 
consideration of the Humanity of Christ, one postu- 
late of which is His impeccability. 



98 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



As previously stated, Luke's Gospel is wider in its 
range than either of the two which precede it, in 
both of which Christ is viewed in connection with 
Israel. But here there are no national limitations. 
The "Son of David 77 of the first Gospel, widens out 
into the "Son of Man" in the third Gospel. As "Son 
of Man" He is the Catholic Man. He is linked with, 
though separated from, the whole human race. 
Luke's Gospel, therefore, is in a special sense the 
Gentile Gospel, as Matthew's is the Jewish Gospel. 
It is not surprising to find, then, that the writer of 
it was himself, in all probability, a Gentile — the 
only one in all the Bible. It is generally conceded 
by scholars that Luke is an abbreviation of the Latin 
"Lucanus" or "Lucius." His name is twice found 
in the Pauline Epistles in a list of Gentile names, 
see 2 Tim. 4:10-12 and Philemon 24. It is also 
noteworthy that this third Gospel is addressed, not 
to a Jew, but to a Gentile, by name "Theophilus," 
which means "Beloved of God." It is in this Gen- 
tilish Gospel, and nowhere else, that Christ is pre- 
sented as the good "Samaritan." Obviously, this 
would have been quite out of place in Matthew's 
Gospel, but how thoroughly accordant is it here ! So, 
too, it is only here that we are told that "Jerusalem 
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21:24). 
And again, it is in this Gospel that, in describing 
End-time conditions, we learn that Christ spake to 
His disciples this parable: "Behold the fig tree, and 
all the trees" (21:29). Matthew mentions the former 
(24:32), as the 'fig tree' is the well known symbol 
of Israel, but Luke, alone, adds "and all the trees," 
thus bringing out the international scope of his Gos- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



99 



pel. Other illustrations of this same feature will be 
discovered by the careful student. 

Returning to the central theme of this Gospel, we 
may observe that "the Son of Man" links Christ 
with the earth. It is the title by which Christ most 
frequently referred to Himself. Not once did any 
one else ever address Him by this name. The first 
occurrence of this title is found in the Old Testa- 
ment, in the 8th Psalm, where we read. "What is 
man that Thou art mindful of Him? and the Son 
of Man that Thou visit est him? For Thou hast 
made him a little lower than the angels, and hast 
crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest 
him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; 
Thou hast put all things under his feet" (w. 4-6). 
The immediate reference is to Adam, in his unf alien 
condition, and refers to his Headship over all the 
lower orders of creation. It speaks of earthly do- 
minion, for "Have dominion over the fish of the 
sea, and over the fowl of the air. and over every liv- 
ing thing that moveth upon the earth*' (Gen. 1:28) , 
is what God said to our first parent in the day that 
he was created. But from this position of "domin- 
ion'*' Adam fell, and it was (among other things) to 
recover the dominion that Adam had lost,, that our 
Lord became incarnate. Thus the eighth Psalm, 
as is evident from its quotation in Hebrews 2, finds 
its ultimate fulfillment in "the Second Man.''' But, 
before this Second Man could be "crowned with glo- 
ry and honor/" He must first humble Himself and 
pass through the portals of death. Thus the "Son of 
Man'' title speaks first of humiliation, and ultimate- 
ly of dominion and glory. 

"The Son of Man"' occurs 88 times in the New 
Testament (which is a very significant number, for 



100 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



8 signifies a new beginning, and it is by the Second 
Man the beginning of the new "Dominion' 7 will be 
established) , and it is deeply interesting and instruc- 
tive to trace out the connections in which it occurs. 
It is found for the first time in the New Testament 
in Matt. 8:20, where the Saviour says, "The foxes 
have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but 
the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." 
Here attention is called to the depths of humilia- 
tion into which the Beloved of the Father had en- 
tered: the One who shall yet have complete domin- 
ion over all the earth, when here before, was but a 
homeless Stranger. The second occurrence of this 
title helps to define its scope — "The Son of Man hath 
power on earth to forgive sins 7 ' (Matt. 9:6). The 
last time it is found in Matthew's Gospel is in 26:64 
— "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on 
the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds 
of heaven. 77 Here we are carried forward to the 
time when the Lord Jesus shall return to these 
scenes, not in weakness and humiliation, but in 
power and glory. In John 3:13 there is a state- 
ment made which proves that the San of Man was 
God as well, "And no man hath ascended up to 
Heaven, but He that came down from Heaven, even 
the Son of Man which is in Heaven/' Nowhere in 
the Epistles (save in Heb. 2 where Ps. 8 is quoted) 
is this title found, for the Church has a heavenly 
calling and destiny, and is linked to the Son of God 
in Heaven, and not to the Son of Man as He is re- 
lated to the earth. The last time this title occurs 
in Scripture is in Rev. 14:14, where we read, "And 
I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the 
cloud One sat like unto the Son of Man, having on 
His head a golden croivn" What a contrast is this 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



101 



from the first mention of this title in the New Testa- 
ment where we read of Him not having where to lay 
"His head 7 ' ! 

It is now high time for us to turn from these gen- 
eralizings and consider some features of Luke's Gos- 
pel in more detail. To begin with, we may observe, 
as others have noticed, how distinctive and char- 
acteristic is the Preface to this third Gospel: "For- 
asmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth 
in order a declaration of those things which are 
most surely believed among us, even as they deliv- 
ered them unto us, which from the beginning were 
eyewitnesses, and ministers of the Word: It seemed 
good to me also, having had perfect understanding 
of all things from the very first to write unto thee, 
in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou might- 
est know the certainty of those things, wherein thou 
hast been instructed" (1:1-4). 

What a contrast is this from what we have at the 
commencement of the other Gospels. Here more pro- 
nouncedly than elsewhere, we see the human ele- 
ment in the communication of God's revelation to 
us. The human instrument is brought plainly be- 
fore us. Luke speaks of his personal knowledge of 
that of which he is about to treat. He refers to 
what others had done before him in this direction, 
but feels the need of a more orderly and full setting 
forth of those things which were most surely be- 
lieved. But apparently he was quite unconscious 
of the fact, as he sat down to write to his friend The- 
ophilus, that he was being "moved" (better, "borne 
along") by the Holy Spirit, or that he was about to 
communicate that which should be of lasting value 
to the whole Church of God. Instead, the Divine In- 
spirer is hidden here, and only the human penman 



102 WHY FOUR GOSPELS! 



is seen. Strikingly appropriate is this in the Gospel 
which treats not of the official glories of Christ, nor 
of His Deity, but of His Manhood. There is a mar- 
vellous analogy between the written Word of God 
and the Incarnate Word, the details of which are 
capable of being extended indefinitely. Just as 
Christ was the God-Man, Divine yet human, so the 
Holy Scriptures though given "by inspiration of 
God" were, nevertheless, communicated through 
human channels; but, just as Christ in becoming 
Man did so without being contaminated by sin, so 
God's revelation has come to us through human 
medium without being defiled by any of their im- 
perfections. Moreover, just as it is here in Luke's 
Gospel that our Lord's humanity is brought so prom- 
inently before us, so it is here that the human ele- 
ment in the giving of the Holy Scriptures is most 
plainly to be seen. 

There are many other things of interest and im- 
portance to be found in this first chapter of Luke 
which we cannot now consider in detail, but we 
would point out, in passing, how the human ele- 
ment prevails throughout. We may notice, for in- 
stance, how that here God is seen on more intimate 
terms with those whom He addresses than in Matt. 
1. There, when communicating with Joseph, He 
did so in "dreams/' but here, when sending a mes- 
sage to Zacharias, it is by an angel, who speaks to 
the father of the Baptist face to face. Still more in- 
timate is God's communication to Mary, for here the 
angel speaks not to the mother of our Lord in the 
temple, but more familiarly, in the home — an inti- 
mation of how near God was about to come to men 
in His marvellous grace. Again; far more is told 
us of Mary here than elsewhere, and Luke is the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



103 



only one who records her song of joy which fol- 
lowed the great Annunciation, as he alone records 
the prophecy of Zacharias, uttered on the occasion of 
the naming of his illustrious son. Thus, the emo- 
tions of the human heart are here manifested as 
they were expressed in song and praise. 

The opening verses of Luke 2 are equally char- 
acteristic and distinctive. Here we are told, "And 
it came to pass in those days, that there went out a 
decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world 
should be taxed. And this taxing was first made 
when Cyrenius was governor of Syria. And all 
went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And 
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of 
Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which 
is called Bethlehem; because he was of the house 
and lineage of David: to be taxed with Mary his 
espoused wife" (Luke 2:1-5). We shall look in 
vain for anything like this in the other Gospels. 
Here the Lord of glory is contemplated not as the 
One who had come to reign, but instead, as One who 
had descended to the level of other men, as One 
whose mother and legal father were subject to 
the common taxation. This would have been al- 
together out of keeping with the theme and scope of 
Matthew's Gospel, and a point of no interest in 
Mark, but how thoroughly in accord with the char- 
acter of Luke's Gospel! 

"And she brought forth her firstborn son, and 
wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in 
a manger; because there was no room for them in 
the inn" (Luke 2:7). Luke is the only one of the 
four evangelists who tells us of this — a point of 
touching interest concerning His humanity, and one 
that is worthy of our reverent contemplation. Why 



104 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



was it the Father suffered His blessed Son, now in- 
carnate, to be born in a stable? Why were the cattle 
of the field His first companions? What spirit- 
ual lessons are we intended to learn from His being 
placed in a manger? Weighty questions are these 
admitting, perhaps, of at least a sevenfold answer. 

(a) He was laid in a manger because there was 
no room in the inn. How solemnly this brings out 
the world's estimate of the Christ of God. There was 
no appreciation of His amazing condescension. He 
was not wanted. It is so still. There is no room for 
Him in the schools, in society, in the business world, 
among the great throngs of pleasure seekers, in the 
political realm, in the newspapers, nor in many of 
the churches. It is only history repeating itself. Ail 
that the world gave the Saviour, was a stable for His 
cradle, a cross on which to die, and a borrowed grave 
to receive His murdered body. 

(b) He was laid in a manger to demonstrate the 
extent of His Poverty. "For ye know the grace of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, 
yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through 
His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:9). How 
"poor" He became, was thus manifested at the be- 
ginning. The One who, afterwards, had not where 
to lay His head, who had to ask for a penny when 
He would reply to His critics about the question of 
tribute, and who had to use another man's house 
when instituting the Holy Supper, was, from the 
first, a homeless Stranger here. And the "manger" 
was the earliest evidence of this. 

(c) He was laid in a manger in order to be Ac- 
cessible to all. Had He been born in a palace, or in 
some room in the Temple, few could have reached 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



105 



Him without the formality of first gaining permis- 
sion from those who would have been in attendance 
at such places. But none would have any difficulty 
in obtaining access to a stable; there He would be 
within easy reach of poor and rich alike. Thus, from 
the beginning, He was easy of approach. No inter- 
mediaries had first to be passed in order to reach 
Him. No priest had to be interviewed before entre 
could be obtained to His presence. Thus it was then ; 
and so it is now 7 , thank God. 

(d) He was laid in a manger so as to foreshad- 
ow the Character of those among whom He had 
come. The stable was the place for beasts of the 
field, and it was into their midst the newly-born Sa- 
viour came. And how well did they symbolize the 
moral character of men ! The beasts of the field are 
devoid of any spiritual life, and so have no knowl- 
edge of God. Such, too, was the condition of both 
Jews and Gentiles. And how beastlike in character 
were those- into whose midst the Saviour came : stu- 
pid and stubborn as the ass or mule, cunning and 
cruel as the fox, grovelling and filthy as the swine, 
and ever thirsting for His blood as the more savage 
of the animals. Fittingly, then, was He placed amid 
the beasts of the field at His birth. 

(e) He was laid in a manger to show His con- 
tempt for Worldly riches and pomp. We had thought 
it more fitting for the Christ of God to be born in a 
palace, and laid in a cradle of gold, lined with costly 
silks. Ah, but as He Himself reminds us in this 
same Gospel, "that which is highly esteemed among 
men, is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 
16:15). And what an exemplification of this truth 
was given when the infant Saviour was placed, not 
in a cradle of gold but, in an humble manger. 



106 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



(f) He was laid in a manger to mark His identi- 
fication with human suffering and wretchedness. 
The One born was "The Son of Man." He had left 
the heights of Heaven's glory and had descended to 
our level, and here we behold Him entering the hu- 
man lot at its lowest point. Adam was first placed 
in a garden, surrounded by the exquisite beauties of 
Nature as it left the hands of the Creator. But sin 
had come in, and with sin all its sad consequences of 
suffering and wretchedness. Therefore, does the One 
who had come here to recover and restore what the 
first man lost, appear first, in surroundings which 
spoke of abject need and wretchedness; just as a lit- 
tle later we find Him taken down into Egypt, in 
order that God might call His Son from the same 
place as where His people Israel commenced their 
national history in misery and wretchedness. Thus 
did the Man of Sorrows identify Himself with hu- 
man suffering. 

'(g) He was laid in a manger because such was 
the place of Sacrifice. The manger was the place 
where vegetable life was sacrificed to sustain animal 
life. Fitting place was this, then, for Him who had 
come to be the great Sacrifice, laying down His life 
for His people, that we might through His death be 
made alive. Remarkably suggestive, therefore, and 
full of emblematic design, was the place appointed 
by God to receive the infant body of the incarnate 
Saviour. 

It is only in Luke's Gospel that we read of the 
shepherds who kept watch over their flocks by night, 
and to whom the angel of the Lord appeared, say- 
ing, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good ti- 
dings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For 
unto you is born this day in the city of David a 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



107 



Saviour, which is Christ the Lord" (2:10, 11). Note 
that the One born is here spoken of not as "The 
King of the Jews," but as <c a Saviour, which is 
Christ the Lord" — titles which reach out beyond the 
confines of Israel, and take in the Gentiles too. 

Again, it is only here in Luke that we behold the 
Saviour as a Boy of twelve going up to Jerusalem, 
and being found in the Temple "sitting in the midst 
of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them 
questions" (2:46). How intensely human is this! 
Yet side by side with it there is a strong hint given 
that He was more than human, for we read, "And 
all that heard Him were astonished at His under- 
standing and answers." So, too, it is only here that 
we are told, "And He went down with them (His 
parents), and was subject unto them" (2 :51). How 
this brings out the excellencies of His humanity, 
perfectly discharging the responsibilities of every re- 
lationship which He sustained to men as well as to 
God! And how strikingly appropriate is the clos- 
ing verse of this chapter — "And Jesus increased in 
wisdom and stature and in favor with God and 
man"! There is nothing like this in any of the 
other Gospels: but Luke's would have been incom- 
plete without it. What proofs are these that Luke, 
as the others, was guided by the Spirit of God in the 
selection of his materials! 

Luke 3 opens by presenting to us the person and 
mission of John the Baptist. Matthew and Mark 
have both referred to this, but Luke adds to the pic- 
ture his own characteristic lines. Only here do we 
read that it was "in the fifteenth year of the reign 
of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of 
Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his 
brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and of the region 



108 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



of Traehonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abile- 
ne, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the 
Word of God came unto John, the son of Zaeharias 
in the wilderness" (3:1,2) — points of historic in- 
terest in connection with these human relationships. 
So, too, it is only here that we read of other human 
relationships of "the people' 7 who asked John "What 
shall we do?" (3:10), of the "publicans" who asked 
him the same question (3:12), and of "the soldiers" 
who came to him with a similar query (3:14). It 
is also to be noted, that only here is the Lord Jesus 
directly linked with "all the people" when He was 
baptized, for we read, "Now when all the people were 
baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being bap- 
tized" (3:21), thus showing Him as the One who 
had come down to the common level. And again, 
it is only here we are told of the age of the Saviour 
when He entered upon His public ministry (3:23), 
this being another point of interest in connection 
with His humanity. 

Luke 3 closes with a record of the Genealogy of 
the Son of Man, and noticeable are the differences be- 
tween what we have here, and what is found in Matt. 
1. There, it is the royal genealogy of the Son of 
David, here it is His strictly personal genealogy. 
There, it is His line of descent through Joseph which 
is given, here it is His ancestry through Mary. There, 
His genealogy is traced forwards from Abraham, 
here it is followed backwards to Adam. This is very 
striking, and brings out in an unmistakable man- 
ner the respective character and scope of each Gos- 
pel. Matthew is showing Christ's relation to Israel, 
and therefore he goes back no farther than to Abra- 
ham, the father of the Jewish people ; but here, it is 
His connection with the human race that is before 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



109 



us,, and hence his genealogy in Luke is traced right 
back to Adam, the father of the human family. 
But notice, particularly, that at the close it is said, 
"Adam was the son of God" (3:38). Thus the hu- 
manity of Christ is here traced not merely back to 
Adam, but through Adam directly to God Himself. 
How marvellously this agrees with the words, of the 
Lord Jesus as found in Heb. 10:5 — "A body hast 
Thou prepared Me" ! 

Luke 4 opens by telling us "And Jesus being full 
of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan, and was 
led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted 
forty days of the Devil." Only here do we learn that 
the Saviour was "full of the Holy Spirit" as He re- 
turned from the Jordan. Then follows the account 
of the Temptation. It will be observed by the close 
student that between Matthew and Luke there is a 
difference in the order of mention of Satan's three 
attacks upon Christ. In Matthew the order is, first 
the asking of the Lord Jesus to turn the stones 
into bread, second the bidding Him cast Himself 
down from the pinnacle of the Temple, and third 
the offer to Him of all the kingdoms of this world 
on the condition of worshipping Satan. But here in 
Luke we have first the request to make the stones 
into bread, second the offer of the kingdoms of the 
world, and third the challenge for Him to cast Him- 
self down from the pinnacle of the temple. The rea- 
son for this variation is not hard to find. In Mat- 
thew, the order is arranged climactically , so as to 
make Rulership over all the kingdoms of the world 
the final bait which the Devil dangled before the 
Son of David. But in Luke we have, no doubt, the 
chronological order, the order in which they actual- 
ly occurred, and these correspond with the order of 



110 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



temptation of the first man and his wife in Eden, 
where the appeal was made, as here in Luke, to the 
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride 
of life — see 1 John 2:16 and compare Gen. 3:6. We 
may also note that Luke is the only one to tell us 
that "Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into 
Galilee" (4:14), showing that the old Serpent had 
utterly failed to disturb the perfect fellowship which 
existed between the incarnate Son of God upon 
earth and His Father in Heaven. After the horrible 
conflict was over, the Lord Jesus returned to Gali- 
lee in the unabated "power of the Spirit." 

Following the account of the Temptation, Luke 
next tells us, "And He cajne to Nazareth, where He 
had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He 
went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and 
stood up for to read" (4:16). Luke, again, is the 
only one that mentions this, it being another point 
of interest in connection with our Lord's Manhood, 
informing us, as it does, of the place where He had 
been "brought up," and showing us how He had 
there been wont to occupy Himself on each Sabbath 
day. In the words that follow there is a small line 
in the picture which is very significant and sugges- 
tive: "And there was delivered unto Him the book 
of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened 
the book, He found the place where it was written, 
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me" etc. The book, 
be it noted, did not open magically at the page He 
desired to read from, but, like any other, the Son 
of Man turned the pages until He had "found the 
place" required! 

Others have called iattention to another thing 
which occurred on this occasion and which was pro- 
foundly suggestive. There in the synagogue at Naz- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



Ill 



areth the Saviour read from the opening words of 
Isaiah 61, and it will be found by comparing the 
record of the prophet with the Lord's reading as 
recorded in Luke 4, that He stopped at a most sig- 
nificant point. Isaiah says the Spirit of the Lord 
was upon Him to "preach good tidings unto the 
meek * * to proclaim the acceptable year of the 
Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God;" but 
in Luke 4 we find the Saviour read that the Spirit 
of the Lord was upon Him to "preach the gospel to 
the poor * * to proclaim the acceptable year of the 
Lord," and there He stopped, for immediately fol- 
lowing w^e are told, "He closed the book." He ceased 
His reading from Isaiah in the midst of a sentence; 
He concluded at a comma ! Why was it that He 
did not complete the verse, and add, "The Day of 
Vengeance of our God"? The answer is, Because 
such did not fall within the scope of His mission at 
His first Advent. The "Day of Vengeance" is yet 
future. The Lord Jesus was setting us an example 
of "rightly dividing the Word of Truth" (2 Tim. 
2:15). As the Saviour closed the book that day in 
Nazareth's synagogue, He declared, "This day is this 
Scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Luke 4:21), and 
that which was then "fulfilled" was the portion He 
had read to them from Isaiah 61:1, 2; the remainder 
of Is. 61:2 was not then fulfilled, for it has to do 
with that which is yet future: hence, He read it 
not. It should be added that the next time we find 
the Lord Jesus with a "book" in His hands is in 
Rev. 5:7, and there we read of Him opening it — see 
Rev. 6:1 etc. — and the striking thing is that when 
the Lord opens that book the Day of God's Venge- 
ance, so long delayed, then commences ! These points 
have been brought out by others before us, but we 



112 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



have not seen it intimated that Luke is the only one 
of the four Evangelists to refer to this incident. Not 
only was there a dispensational reason why the Lord 
Jesus read not the w T hole of Is. 61 :2 in the Nazareth 
synagogue that day, but it was peculiarly fitting that 
the one whose happy task it was to present the hu- 
man perfections of Christ, should note our Lord's 
silence concerning the Day of God's "vengeance" ! 

It is beyond our present purpose to attempt even a 
running exposition of each chapter of this third 
Evangel. We are not seeking to be exhaustive, but 
simply suggestive, calling attention to some of the 
more outstanding features of Luke's Gospel. There 
is so much here that is not found in the other three 
Gospels, that to examine in detail every distinctive 
feature would call for a large volume. As this would 
defeat our object, we shall be content to single out a 
few things here and there. 

Luke 7 records the raising of the widow of Nain's 
son. None of the others mention this. There are 
several lines in this picture which serve to bring out 
that which is central in Luke's Gospel, namely, hu- 
man need, human relationships, and human sym- 
pathies. Thus we may note that the one here raised 
by Christ was "'the only son of his mother" and that 
she was a "widow;" that when the Lord saw her "He 
had compassion on her" and that He bade her "Veep 
not"; that before He commanded the dead to 
"Arise," He first "came and touched the bier," and 
that after the dead one was restored to life, the Sa- 
viour "delivered him to his mother." 

In Luke 8 :2, 3 we are told, "And certain women 
which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, 
Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven de- 
mons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod's stew- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



113 



ard, and Susanna, and many others, which min- 
istered unto Him of their substance/' How this 
shows us the place which our blessed Lord had taken 
as the Son of Man ! Nothing like this is found in 
the other Gospels, and that for a very good reason. 
It would have been beneath the dignity of the King 
of the Jews to be "ministered unto" with the sub- 
stance of women ; it would be out of place in Mark's 
Gospel, for there the Holy Spirit shows us that the 
Servant must look to God only for the supply of His 
every need; while John, of course, would not men- 
tion it, for he sets forth the Divine glories of our 
Lord. But it is perfectly appropriate, and illumina- 
tive too, in the Gospel which treats of Christ's hu- 
manity. 

Above we have noted that Luke informs us the 
one raised from death by Christ at Nain was a wid- 
ow's "only son," and we may now notice two other 
examples from this Gospel where the same feature 
is mentioned. The first is in connection with the 
daughter of Jairus. Matthew says, "While He spake 
these things unto them, behold, there came a cer- 
tain ruler, and worshipped Him saying, My daugh- 
ter is even now dead" (9:18). Mark tells us, "Be- 
hold, there cometh one of the rulers of the syna- 
gogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Him, he 
fell at His feet, And besought Him, saying, My lit- 
tle daughter lieth at the point of death" (5:22, 23). 
But Luke gives additional information, "And, be- 
hold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a 
ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' 
feet, and besought Him that He would come into Eis 
house: for he had one only daughter, about twelve 
years of age, and she lay a dying" (8:41, 42). The 
second example is in connection with the demon- 



114 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



possessed child, whose father sought relief at the 
hands of Christ's disciples. Matthew says, " And 
when they were come to the multitude, there came 
to Him a certain man, kneeling down to Him, and 
saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is luna- 
tick, and sore vexed : for of ttimes he f alleth into the 
fire, and oft into the water. And I brought him to 
Thy disciples, and they could not cure him" (17: 
14-16). But Luke tells us, "And, behold, a man 
of the company cried out, saying, Master, I beseech 
Thee, look upon my son : for he is mine only child. 
And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth 
out; and it teareth him that he foameth again, and 
bruising him hardly departeth from him. And I 
besought Thy disciples to cast him out; and they 
could not" (9:38-40). Thus in each case Luke calls 
attention to the fact that it was an "only child" that 
was healed, thereby appealing to human sympathies. 

Luke is the only one who records the exquisite 
story of the Good Samaritan ministering to the 
wounded traveller, and there are many lines in the 
picture of this incident which bring out, strikingly, 
the distinctive character of this third Gospel. First, 
we are shown the traveller himself falling among 
thieves, who strip him of his raiment, wound him, 
and depart, leaving him half dead. How this brings 
out the lawlessness, the avarice, the brutality, and 
the heartlessness of fallen human nature! Next, we 
hear of the priest who saw the pitiable state of the 
wounded traveller, lying helpless by the road, yet 
did he "pass by on the other side." The priest was 
followed by a Levite who, though he "came and 
looked on" on the poor man that was in such sore 
need of help, also "passed by on the other side." 
Thus we behold the selfishness, the callousness, the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



115 



cruel indifference of even religious men toward one 
who had such a claim upon their sympathies. In 
blessed contrast from these, we are shown the grace 
of the Saviour who, under the figure of a "Samari- 
tan," is here seen moved "with compassion" as He 
came to where the poor traveller lay. Instead of 
passing by on the other side, He goes to him, binds 
up his wounds, sets him on His ow T n beast, and 
brings him to an inn, where full provision is made 
for him. So does this incident, summarize as it 
were, the scope of this entire Gospel, by showing the 
infinite contrast that existed between the perfect 
Son of Man and the fallen and depraved sons of 
men. 

In Luke 11 we read of the unclean spirit who 
goes out of a man, and later, returns to his house, 
to find it "swept and garnished." Then, we are told, 
this unclean spirit takes with him seven other spirits 
more wicked than himself, and they "enter in and 
dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse 
than the first" (11:24-26). Matthew also refers to 
this in 12:43-45 in almost identical language, but 
it is very significant to observe that Luke omits a 
sentence with which Matthew closes his narrative. 
There in Matt. 12 we find the Lord applied the in- 
cident to the Jewish nation by saying, "Even so shall 
it be also unto this ivicked generation" (or "race"). 
This was the dispensational application, which lim- 
its it to Israel. But appropriately does Luke omit these 
qualifying w r ords, for in his Gospel this incident has 
a wider application, a moral application, representing 
the condition of a more extensive class, namely, 
those who hear the Gospel, and reform, but who 
are never regenerated. Such may clean up their 
houses, but though they are "swept and garnished," 



116 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



yet are they still empty — the Spirit of God does not 
indwell them! They are like the foolish virgins, 
who, though they mingled with the wise virgins 
and carried the lamp of public profession, yet had 
they no oil (emblem of the Holy Spirit) in their 
vessels. Such cases of reformation though at first 
they appear to be genuine instances of regenera- 
tion, ultimately prove to be but counterfeits, and at 
the last their condition is worse than it was at the be- 
ginning — they have been deceived by their own 
treacherous hearts and deluded and blinded by 
Satan, and in consequence, are far harder to reach 
with the Truth of God. 

In Luke 12 we have an incident recorded which 
is similar in principle to Luke's notice of our Lord's 
omission of the closing words of Is. 61:2 when 
reading from this scripture in the synagogue at 
Nazareth. Here we find that a certain man came to 
Christ and said, "Master, speak to my brother, that 
he divide the inheritance with me" (12:13). But 
the Master refused to grant this request and said, 
"Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you?" 
The reason why Luke is the only one to mention 
this is easily seen. It would have been incongruous 
for Matthew to have referred to an incident wherein 
the Lord Jesus declined to occupy the place of au- 
thority and act as the administrator, of an inherit- 
ance ; as it would have been equally out of place for 
Mark to have noticed this case where one should 
have asked the Servant to officiate as "judge and di- 
vider." But it is fitting it should have found a place 
in this Third Gospel, for the words of Christ on this 
occasion, "Who made Me a judge or a divider over 
you?" only show us, once more, the lowly place 
which He had taken as "The Son of Man." 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



117 



In Luke 14 there is recorded a parable which is 
found nowhere else: "And He put forth a parable 
to those which w T ere bidden, when He marked how 
they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them, 
When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit 
not down in the highest room, lest a more honor- 
able man than thou be bidden of him ; And he that 
bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this 
man place; and thou begin w^ith shame to take the 
lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit 
down in the lowest room; that when he that bade 
thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up 
higher: then shalt thou have worship (or "glory") 
in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 
For w T hosoever exalt eth himself shall be abased; and 
he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (w. 7- 
11). How thoroughly is this parable in accord with 
the character and scope of Luke's Gospel! First, it 
ministers a much needed rebuke upon the general 
tendency of fallen human nature to seek out the best 
places and aim at positions of honor and glory. 
Secondly, it inculcates the spirit of meekness and 
modesty, admonishing us to take the lowly place. 
And thirdly, it is an obvious shadowing forth of that 
which the Lord of glory had done Himself, leaving 
as He had, the position of dignity and glory in 
Heaven, and taking the "lowest" place of all down 
here. 

In accordance with the fact that Luke's Gospel is 
the third book of the New Testament (the number 
which stands for manifestation) , we may notice that 
in the fifteenth chapter we have a parable which re- 
veals to us the Three Persons of the Godhead, each 
actively engaged in the salvation of a sinner. It is 
very striking that it is one parable in three parts 



118 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



which, taken together, makes fully manifest the One 
true God in the Person of the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Spirit. 

Luke 15 may well be entitled, God seeking and 
saving the lost. In the third part of this parable, 
which deals with the "prodigal Son," we are shown 
the sinner actually coming into the presence of the 
Father, and there receiving a cordial welcome, be- 
ing suitably clothed, and given a place at His table 
in happy fellowship. In what precedes we learn 
of that which was necessary on the part of God be- 
fore the sinner could thus be reconciled. The sec- 
ond part of the parable brings before us the work of 
the Holy Spirit, going after the one dead in sins and 
illuminating him, and this under the figure of a 
woman who, with a light in her hand (emblematic 
of the Lamp of God's Word), seeks diligently till 
she finds that which was lost. Notice, particularly, 
that her work was inside the house, just as the Holy 
Spirit works within the sinner. In the first part of 
the parable we are shown that which preceded the 
present work of God's Spirit. The ministry of the 
Spirit is the complement to the Work of Christ, 
hence, at the beginning of the chapter, the Sa- 
viour Himself is before us, under the figure of the 
Shepherd, who went forth to seek and to save the 
sheep that was lost. Thus, the first part of the par- 
able tells of God's work for us, as the second tells of 
God's work in us, the third part making known the 
blessed result and happy sequel. So, in this one 
parable in three parts, we have revealed the One 
God in the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, fully 
manifested in the work of seeking and saving the 
lost. 

In full accord with what has just been before us 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



119 



in Luke 15, though in marked and solemn contrast, 
we find that in the next chapter the Lord Jesus 
makes fully manifest the state of the lost after death. 
Nowhere else in the four Gospels do we find, as here, 
the lifting of the veil which separates and hides 
from us the condition of those who have passed into 
the next world. Here the Lord gives us a specimen 
case of the present torments of the lost, in the ex- 
periences of the "rich man 7 ' after death. We read 
"In Hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and 
seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mer- 
cy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the 
tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue ; for I 
am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, 
Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivest 
thy good things, and Lazarus evil things: but now 
he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And be- 
side all this, between us and you there is a great 
gulf fixed : so that they which would pass from hence 
to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that 
would come from thence" (vv. 23-26). Here we 
learn that the damned, even now, are in a place of 
suffering; that they are "in torments ;" that the mis- 
ery of their awful lot is accentuated by being en- 
abled to "see" the happy portion of the redeemed; 
that there is, however, an impassible gulf fixed be- 
tween the saved and the lost, which makes it impos- 
sible for the one to go to the other; that memory is 
still active in those that are in Hell, so that they are 
reminded of the opportunities wasted, while they 
were upon earth; that they cry for mercy and beg 
for water to allay their fiery sufferings, but that this 
is denied them. Unspeakably solemn is this, and a 
most pointed warning to all still upon earth to "flee 



120 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



from the wrath to come" and to take refuge in the 
only One who can deliver from it. 

Passing on now to the nineteenth chapter we may 
observe how Luke there records something that is 
absent from the other Gospels. "And when He was 
come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, 
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in 
this thy day, the things which belong unto thy 
peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes" (w. 
41,42). How this brings out the human sympa- 
thies of the Saviour! As He looked upon Jerusa- 
lem, and foresaw the miseries which were shortly to 
be its portion, the Son of Man wept. He was no 
stoic^ but One whose heart was full of compassion 
for the sufferers of earth. 

In drawing to a close, we would notice seven fea- 
tures which are particularly prominent in this Gos- 
pel, and which are in striking accord with its par- 
ticular theme and scope : — 

1. The full description here given of fallen hu- 
man nature. 

Luke's is the Gospel of our Lord's Manhood, and, 
as He is the true Light shining amid the darkness, 
it is here also that the characteristics of our corrupt 
human nature are shown up as nowhere else. Luke's 
special design is to present the Lord Jesus as the 
Son of Man contrasted from the sons of men. Hence 
it is that the depravity, the impotency, the degrada- 
tion and the spiritual deadness of ail the members of 
Adam's fallen race is brought out here with such 
fullness and clearness. It is here, and here only, we 
read that, until the miracle-working power of God 
intervened, the mother of John the Baptist was bar- 
ren — apt symbol of fallen human nature with its 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



121 



total absence of spiritual fruit; and that his father, 
though a priest, was filled with unbelief when God ? s 
messenger announced to him the forth-coming mir- 
acle. It is only here that we read of all the world 
being "taxed" (Luke 2:1), which tells, in sugges- 
tive symbol, of the burdens imposed by Satan on his 
captive subjects. It is only here that we read that 
when Mary brought forth her Son, there was "no 
room for them in the inn/' signifying the world's 
rejection of the Saviour from the beginning. It is 
only here we are told that when the Lord Jesus came 
to Nazareth and read in the synagogue from the 
prophet Isaiah, adding a comment of His own, that 
"All they in the synagogue, when they heard these 
things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and 
thrust Him out of the city, and led Him unto the 
brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that 
they might cast Him down headlong" (4:28,29): 
thus did those who ought to have known Him the 
best, manifest the terrible enmity of the carnal mind 
against God and His Christ. It is only here that we 
read, "'And it came to pass, when He was in a certain 
city, behold a man full of leprosy: who seeing Jesus 
fell on his face, and besought Him, saying, Lord, if 
Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean'' (5:12). In 
the other Gospels reference is made to this same inci- 
dent, but Luke alone tells us that the subject of this 
miracle was full of leprosy. "Leprosy" is the well 
known figure of sin, and it is only in Luke that 
man's total depravity is fully revealed. It is only in 
Luke that we hear of the disciples of Christ asking 
permission to call down fire from Heaven to con- 
sume those who received not the Saviour (9:51-55). 
It is only here that Christ, in the well known par- 
able of the Good Samaritan, portrays the abject con- 



122 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



dition of the natural man, under the figure of the 
one who, having fallen among thieves, had been 
stript of his raiment, sorely wounded, and left by 
the wayside half dead. It is only here that we read 
of the Rich Fool who declared, "I will say to my 
soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many 
years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry' ' 
(12:19), for such is the invariable tendency of the 
boastful human heart. So, too, it is only here that 
in Luke 15 the sinner is likened unto a lost sheep — 
an animal so senseless that once it is lost, it only con- 
tinues to stray farther and farther away from the 
fold. It is only here that we find the Saviour draw- 
ing that matchless picture of the Prodigal Son, who 
so accurately depicts the sinner away from God, hav- 
ing wasted his substance in riotous living, and who, 
reduced to want, finds nothing in the far country to 
feed upon, except the husks w T hich the swine did eat. 
It is only here that we learn of the heartless indif- 
ference of the rich man who neglected the poor 
wretch that lay at his gate full of sores. It is only 
here that the self-righteousness of man is fully dis- 
closed in the person of the Pharisee in the Temple 
(Luke 18). And so we might go on. But sufficient 
has been said to prove our statement at the head of 
this paragraph. 

The Manner in which Luke introduces his 
Parables etc. 

In perfect accord with the character and scope of 
his Gospel, we find that Luke introduces most of his 
parables, also various incidents narrated by him, as 
well as certain portions of our Lord's teachings, in a 
way quite peculiar to himself. By comparing the 
parallel passages in the other Gospels, and by noting 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



123 



the words we now place in italics, this will be ap- 
parent to the reader. 

In Luke 5:12, we are told, that "a man full of 
leprosy' 7 came to Christ to be healed, whereas Mat- 
thew, when describing the same incident, merely 
says, "there came a leper" to Him (8:2). Again, 
in 8:27 we read, "When He went forth to land, 
there met Him out of the city, a certain man, which 
had demons a long time, and ware no clothes, nei- 
ther abode in any house, but in the tombs ;" where- 
as Matt. 8:28 reads, "And when He was come to 
the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, 
there met Him (not "two men," but) two possessed 
with demons coming out of the tombs" etc. Again, 
in 8 :41 we read, "There came a man named Jairus, 
and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell 
down at Jesus' feet," whereas Mark 5 :22 says, 
"There cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, 
Jairus by name; and when he saw Him,, he fell at 
His feet." In Luke 9 :57 we read, "And it came to 
pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man 
said unto Him, Lord, I will follow Thee whither- 
soever Thou goest," whereas Matt. 8:19 reads, "And 
a certain scribe came, and said unto Him, Master, I 
will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest." In 
Luke 9 :62 we find that the Lord said, "No man (not 
"disciple," be it noted), having put his hand to the 
plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of 
God." In 19:35 we read, "As He was come nigh 
unto Jericho, a certain blind man sat by the way- 
side begging," but in Mark 10:46 we are told, "As 
He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a 
great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of 
Timaeus, sat by the wayside begging." 

Coming now to the parables, note the striking way 



124 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS'? 



in which they are introduced here: "And He spake 
also a parable unto them: No man putteth a piece 
of a new garment upon an old" etc. (5 :36) . "A cer- 
tain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and 
fell among thieves" etc. (10:30). "And He spake a 
parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain 
rich man brought forth plentifully" etc. (12:16). 
"He spake also this parable: A certain man had a 
fig tree planted in his vineyard" etc. (13:6). "Then 
said He unto him, A certain man made a great sup- 
per" etc. (14:16). "And He spake this parable un- 
to them, saying, What man of you, having a hun- 
dred sheep" etc. (15:3,4). "And He said, A cer- 
tain man had two sons" etc. (15:11). "And He 
said also unto His disciples, There was a certain rich 
man, which had a steward" etc. (16:1). "There was 
a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and 
fine linen" etc. (16:19). "And He spake a parable 
to them to this end, that men (not "believers") 
ought always to pray, and not to faint" etc. (18:1). 
"Then began He to speak to the people this parable; 
A certain man planted a vineyard" etc. (20 :9) . "And 
He spake also this parable unto certain which trust- 
ed in themselves that they were righteous, and de- 
spised others. Two men went up into the Temple 
to pray" etc. (18:9, 10). Thus we see how the hu- 
man element is emphasized here. 

3. The references to Christ as "The Son of Man." 

It is only in this Gbspel we read that the Saviour 
said to the Pharisees, "The days will come, when ye 
shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, 
and ye shall not see it" (17 :22). It is only in this 
Gospel we find that the Saviour put the question, 
"When the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith 
on the earth?" (18:8). It is only in this Gospel we 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



125 



find that the Saviour said to His followers, " Watch 
ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be ac- 
counted worthy to escape all these things that shall 
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man" 
(21:36). And it is only in this Gospel we find that 
the Saviour said to Judas in the garden, "Betrayest 
thou the Son of Man with a kiss?'' (22:14). 

It is, perhaps even more striking to notice that 
Luke records a number of instances where our Lord 
referred to Himself as "The Son of Man" where, in 
the parallel passages in the other Gospels this title is 
omitted. For example, in Matt. 16:21 we read, 
"From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His 
disciples, how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and 
suffer many things of the elders and chief priests 
and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the 
third day;" whereas, in Luke 9:22 we learn that He 
said unto His disciples, "The Son of Man must suf- 
fer many things, and be rejected of the elders and 
chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised 
the third day." Again; in Matt. 5:11 the Lord said 
to His disciples, "Blessed are ye, when men shall re- 
vile you, and persecute you, and shall say all man- 
ner of evil against you falsely, for My sake;" where- 
as, in the parallel passage in Luke we read, "Blessed 
are ye, when men shall hate you, and w r hen they 
shall separate you from their company, and shall 
reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for 
the Son of Man's sake" (6:22). Again; in Matt, 
10:32 we read, "But whosoever shall confess Me 
before men, him will I confess before My Father 
which is in Heaven;" whereas in Luke 12:8 we are 
told, "Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him 
shall the Son of Man confess before the angels of 
God." Once more; in John 3:17 w T e are told, "For 



126 



WHY 



FOUR 



GOSPELS? 



God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the 
world: but that the world through Him might be 
saved:" whereas, in Luke 9:56 we read, "For the 
Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to 
save them.'' How these examples bring out the 
verbal perfections of Holy Writ! 

4. The Lord is referred to *as "the Friend" of 
publicans and sinners. 

It is only Luke who tells us, "And Levi made 
Him a great feast in his own house: and there was 
a great company of publicans and of others that sat 
down with them'' (5:29). It is only here we learn 
that Christ said to the querulous Jews. "For John 
the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking 
wine, and ye say, He hath a demon. The Son of 
Man is come eating and drinking: and ye say, Be- 
hold a gluttonous man. and a winebibber. a Friend 
of publicans and sinners!" (7:33. 34). It is only in 
this Gospel we find that the Saviour's critics openly 
murmured, and said. "This Man receiveth sinners, 
and eateth with them'' (15:2). And it is only here 
we are told that because Zaccheus had joyfully re- 
ceived the Saviour into his house "they all mur- 
mured, saying, That He was gone to be guest with 
a. man that is a sinner" (19:7). 

It is beautiful to notice the gradation pointed by 
the Holy Spirit in the last three passages quoted 
above. In 7:34 Christ is simply "'The Friend of 
publicans and sinners.'' In 15:2 it was said, "This 
Man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." But 
in 19:7 we are told. "He was gone to be guest with 
a man that is a sinner"' ! Thus did God make even 
the wrath of man to praise Him. 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



127 



5. The Lord is here portrayed as a Man of Prayer. 

It is indeed striking to see how often the Saviour 
is seen engaged in prayer in this Gospel. The fol- 
lowing passages bring this out: "Now when all the 
people were baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also 
being baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened" 
(3:21). "And He withdrew Himself into the wil- 
derness, and prayed" (5:16). "And it came to pass in 
those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, 
and continued all night in prayer to God" (6:12). 
"And it came to pass about an eight days after these 
sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went 
up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the 
fashion of His countenance was altered" (9:28, 29). 
"And it came to pass, that, as He was praying in a 
certain place, when He ceased, one of His disciples 
said unto Him, Lord, teach us to pray" (11:1). 
"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan 
hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as 
wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thv faith 
fail not" (22:31,32). "And He was withdrawn 
from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, 
and prayed. * * And being in an agony He prayed 
more earnestly" (22 :41, 44) . "Then said Jesus, Fa- 
ther, forgive them for they know not what they do" 
(23:34) : only here do we find Him praying thus 
for His murderers. Add to these examples the fact 
that Luke alone records our Lord's teaching on 
Prayer which is found in 11:5-8, that he only tells 
us of His parable on Importunity in prayer (18:1- 
7), and that he alone tells us of the two men who 
went up to the Temple to pray, and it will be seen 
what a prominent place prayer has in Luke's Gospel. 

6. Christ is frequently seen here Eating food. 
"And one of the Pharisees desired Him that He 



128 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



would eat with him. And He went into the Phari- 
see's house, and sat down to meat" (7:36). "And as 
He spake, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine 
with him: and He went in, and sat down to meat" 
(11 :37) . "And it came to pass, as He went into the 
house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on 
the Sabbath day, they watched Him' 5 (14:1). "And 
when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That 
He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sin- 
ner"' (19:7). "And it came to pass, as He sat at 
meat with them, He took bread, and blessed it, and 
brake, and gave to them" (24:30). "And they 
gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honey- 
comb. And He took it, and did eat before them" 
(24:42,43). It scarcely needs to be pointed out 
that these examples demonstrated the reality of His 
Manhood. 

7. The Circumstances connected with His Death 
and Resurrection. 

The awful hour spent in Gethsemane is described 
in this third Gospel with a fullness of detail which 
is not found in the others. Luke is the only one 
that tells us, "And there appeared an angel unto 
Him from heaven, strengthening Him;" as he is the 
only one to say, "And being in an agony He prayed 
more earnestly: and His sweat was as it were great 
drops of blood falling down to the ground" (22:43, 
44). Then followed the Arrest, and as they were 
all leaving the Garden, we read, "And one of them 
smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his 
ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus 
far, and He touched his ear, and healed him" (22: 
50, 51). The other Evangelists record this incident 
of the smiting of the high priest's servant, but only 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 129 



Luke shows us the tenderness of the Saviour, full of 
compassion toward the suffering of others, right to 
the last. 

Luke is the only one to tell us, "And there fol- 
lowed Him a great company of people, and of wom- 
en, which also bewailed and lamented Him. But 
Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusa- 
lem, weep not for Me, but weep 'for yourselves, and 
for your children" (23:27,28). Appropriately, 
does this find a place here, bringing out, as it does, 
human emotions and sympathies. Luke is the only 
one to designate the place where the Saviour was 
crucified by its Gentile name — "And when they were 
come to the place, which is called Calvary, there 
they crucified Him" (23:33). And, again, Luke 
tells us, "A superscription also was written over Him 
in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, This is 
the King of the Jews" (23:38). How this hints at 
the international scope of this third Gospel! Mat- 
thew and Mark give no hint of the "superscription" 
being written in the world-languages of the day; 
though John does, for he, again, presents Christ in 
connection with "the world." Luke is the only one 
to describe the conversion of the dying robber, and 
to record his witness to the Human perfections of 
the Lord Jesus: "This Man hath done nothing 
amiss" (23:41). So, too, it is only here we find a 
similar testimony borne by the Roman centurion: 
"Now when the centurion saw what was done, he 
glorified G'od, saving, Certainlv this was a righteous 
Man" (23:47). 

After His resurrection from the dead, it is only 
Luke who mentions that long walk of the Saviour 
with the two disciples, and of the familiar inter- 
course which they had together as they journeyed to 



130 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



Emmaus. And Luke is the only one who presents 
the Lord to our view as eating food after He had 
risen in triumph from the grave. 

It only remains to add a brief word concerning 
the characteristic manner in which this third Gos- 
pel closes. Luke alone tells us, "And He led them 
out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, 
and blessed them" (24:50) — a beautiful touch is 
this! Then we are told, "And it came to pass, 
while He blessed them, He was parted from them, 
and carried up into Heaven" (24:51). Note, par- 
ticularly, that Luke says that the Son of Man was 
"carried up into Heaven," not that He ascended! 
And then the curtain falls to the strains of the ex- 
pressions of human joy and praise: "And they wor- 
shipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great 
joy: and were continually in the Temple, praising 
and blessing God. Amen" (24:52,53). 



THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 



THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. 




turn to the fourth Gospel we come to en- 
tirely different ground from that which we 
, T e traversed in the other three. True, the 
period of time which is covered by it, is the same as 
in the others ; true, that some of the incidents that 
have already been looked at will here come before 
us again; and true it is that He who has occupied 
the central position in the narratives of the first 
three Evangelists, is the same One that is made pre- 
eminent by John ; but otherwise, everything here is 
entirely new. The fourth Gospel is more elevated 
in its tone, its viewpoint is more exalted, its con- 
tents bring before us spiritual relationships rather 
than human ties, and higher glories are revealed as 
touching the peerless person of the Saviour. In 
each of the first three Gospels, Christ is viewed in 
human connections, but not so in the fourth. Mat- 
thew presents Him as the Son of David; Mark, as 
the perfect Workman of God; Luke, as the Son of 
Man : but John unveils His Divine glories. Again ; 
Matthew writes, particularly, for the Jews: Mark, is 
specially adapted to God's servants ; Luke's is written 
for men as men; but John's Gospel is concerned 
with the Family of God. 

John's Gospel is the fourth book of the New 
Testament, and four is 3-j-l. The numerals of 
Scripture are not employed fortuitously, but are 
used with Divine discrimination and significance. 
The reverent student is not left free to juggle with 
them at his own caprice, nor may he give to them 
an arbitrary meaning, so as to fit in with any 



134 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



private interpretations of his own. If he is honest, 
he will gather his definitions from the manner in 
which they are employed in Scripture itself. Thus, 
whether our statement that four is 3+1 is an arbi- 
trary assertion or not, must be determined by its 
support, or lack of it, in the Word. The numeral 
four is used two ways in the Bible. First, its mean- 
ing as a whole number, and second, its meaning as 
a distributive number. In its first usage, four is the 
world number, the number of the earth and all 
things therein, the number of the creature, as such ; 
and hence, it comes to signify, Universality. But 
in its second usage, the distributive, when employed 
in connection with a series, it is frequently divided 
into three and one. Four is rarely, if ever an in- 
tensified two; that is, its significance does not repre- 
sent 2X2. 

The last paragraph sounds somewhat academical, 
we fear, but its force may become more apparent 
as we apply its principles to our present subject. 
The four Gospels form a series, and the character 
of their contents obviously divide them into a three 
and a one, just as in the four kinds of soil in the 
parable of the Sower, representing four classes of 
hearers of the Word, are a series, and similarly di- 
vided — three barren, and one fruitful. As we have 
seen, the first three Gospels have that in common 
which, necessarily, binds them together — each look- 
ing at Christ in human connections. But the fourth 
is clearly distinguished from the others by present- 
ing Christ in a Divine relationship, and therefore it 
stands separated from the others. This conclusion 
is established beyond all doubt, when we observe that 
the character of its contents is in perfect accord 
with the significance of the numeral one. One 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



135 



speaks, primarily, of God: "Hear, Israel: the Lord 
our God is one Lord" (Dent. 6:4). And again: 
"And the Lord shall he King over all the earth: in 
that day shall there be one Lord, and His name 
one" (Zech. 14:9). In all languages one is the 
symbol of unity: it excludes all others. The first 
of the ten commandments, therefore, was: "Thou 
shalt have no other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:3). 
So in John's Gospel, the one following the other 
three, it is the Godhead of Christ which is in view. 

Each book in the Bible has a prominent and dom- 
inant theme which is peculiar to itself. Just as each 
member in the human body has its own particular 
function, so every book in the living Body of Di- 
vine Truth has its own special purpose and mission. 
The theme of John's Gospel is the Deity of Christ. 
Here, as nowhere else so fully, the Godhood of the 
Lord Jesus is presented to our view. That which 
is outstanding in this fourth Gospel is the Divine 
Sonship of our Saviour. In this Gospel we are 
shown that the One born at Bethlehem, who walked 
this earth for over thirty years, who was crucified 
at Calvary, and who forty-three days later departed 
from these scenes, was none other than "the Only- 
Begotten of the Father." The evidence presented 
for this is overwhelming, the proofs almost without 
number, and the effect of contemplating them must 
be to bow our hearts in worship before "The great 
God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). 

Here is a theme worthy of our most reverent 
and prayerful attention. If such Divine care was 
taken, as we saw in the previous chapter, to guard 
the perfections of our Lord's humanity, equally so, 
has the Holy Spirit seen to it that there should be 
no uncertainty concerning the affirmation of the 



136 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



absolute Deity of our Saviour. Just as the Old Testa- 
ment prophets made known that the Coming One 
should be a Man, and a perfect Man, so did Mes- 
sianic prediction also give plain intimation that He 
would be more than a Man. Through Isaiah, God 
foretold that unto Israel a Child should be born, and 
unto them a Son should be given, and that "the 
government shall be upon His shoulder: and His 
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
mighty God, the Father of the ages (Heb.), the 
Prince of Peace" (9:6). Through Micah, He de- 
clared, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though 
thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet 
out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to 
be Ruler in Israel: whose goings forth have been 
from the days of eternity" — marginal rendering (5: 
2) ! Through Zechariah, He said "Awake, Sword, 
against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is 
My Fellow, saith the Lord of hosts" (13 :7) . Through 
the Psalmist, He announced, "The Lord said unto 
my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make 
Thine enemies Thy footstool" (110:1). And again, 
when looking forward to the time of the second Ad- 
vent, "The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My 
Son; this day have I begotten Thee" (or, "brought 
Thee forth") 2:7. 

Coming now to the New Testament we may single 
out two or three of the most explicit witnesses to 
the Deity of Christ. In Rom. 9, where the apos- 
tle is enumerating the peculiar privileges of Israel, 
he says in verse 5, "Whose are the fathers, and of 
whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is 
over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." In 1 Cor. 15 
we are told, "And the first man is of the earth, 
earthy, but the second Man is the Lord from Heav- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



137 



m" (v. 47). In Col. 1:16 we read, "For by Him 
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that 
are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be 
thrones, or dominions, or principalities or powers: 
all things were created by Him and for Him;" and 
again, in 2 :9, "For in Him dwelleth all the fullness 
of the Godhead bodily/ ' In Heb. 1 we learn that 
"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners 
spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, 
whom He hath appointed Heir of all things, by 
whom also He made the worlds; Who being the 
Brightness of His glory, and the express Image of 
His person, and upholding all things by the Word 
of His power, when He had by Himself purged our 
sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on 
high" (Heb. 1:1-3). While in Rev. 19:16 we are 
informed that when He comes back to earth again, 
"He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name 
written, King of kings, and Lord of lords" A more 
emphatic, positive, and unequivocal testimony to 
the absolute Deity of Christ could not be borne. 

In these days of widespread departure from the 
Truth, it cannot be insisted upon too strongly or too 
frequently that the Lord Jesus Christ is none other 
than the Second Person in the Holy Trinity. Vi- 
cious but specious are the attacks now being made 
upon this cardinal article in the faith once for all 
delivered to the saints. Satan, who poses as an angel 
of light, is now sending forth his ministers "trans- 
formed as the ministers of righteousness." Men who 
are loudly trumpeting their faith in the verbal in- 
spiration of Scripture, and who even profess to be- 
lieve in the vicarious Sacrifice of Christ are, never- 
theless, denying the absolute Godhood of Him 



138 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



whom they claim to be serving: they repudiate His 
essential Deity, they deny His Eternality, and re- 
duce Him to the level of a mere creature. It was 
concerning men of this class that the Holy Spir- 
it said, "For such are false apostles, deceitful work- 
ers, transforming themselves into the apostles of 
Christ" (2 Cor. 11:13). 

In keeping with the special theme of the fourth 
Gospel, it is here that we have the fullest unveiling 
of Christ's Divine glories. It is here we behold Him 
dwelling "with God" before time began and before 
ever a creature was formed (1:1, 2). It is here that 
He is denominated "the Only Begotten of the Fa- 
ther" (1:14), It is here John the Baptist bears 
record that "this is the Son of God" (1:34). It is 
here we read, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus 
in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory" 
(2:11), It is here we are told that the Saviour said, 
"Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it 
up" (2:19). It is here we read that God sent His 
Son into the world, not to condemn but to save (3 : 
17). It is here we are told, "The Father loveth the 
Son, and hath given all things into His hands" (3: 
35). It is here we learn that Christ declared, "For 
as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth 
them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. 
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath commit- 
ted all judgment unto the Son : That all men should 
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He 
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father 
which hath sent Him" (5:21-23). It is here that 
we find Him affirming, "For the Bread of God is He 
which cometh down from Heaven, and giveth life 
unto the world" (6:35). It is here we find Him 
saying, "Before Abraham was, I am" (8:58). It is 



"WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



139 



here that we find Him declaring, "I and Father are 
One" (10:30). It is here we hear Him saying, "He 
that hath seen Me, hath seen the Father" (14:9). 
It is here He promises, "Whatsoever ye shall ask in 
My name, that will I do, that the Father may be 
glorified in the Son" (14:13). It is here that He 
asks, "And now, Father, glorify Thou Me with 
Thine own Self with the glory which I had with 
Thee before the world was" (17:5). 

Before we take up John's Gospel in detail, and ex- 
amine some of the more prominent lines in his de- 
lineation of Christ's person and ministry, a few 
words should be said concerning the dispensational 
scope and bearings of this Gospel. It should be evi- 
dent at once that this one is quite different from the 
other Gospels. There, Christ is seen in a human re- 
lationship, and as connected with an earthly peo- 
ple: but here, He is viewed in a Divine relationship, 
and as connected with a heavenly people. It is true 
that the mystery of the one Body is not unfolded 
here, rather is it the family of God which is in view. 
It is also true that the Heavenly Calling is not fully 
disclosed, yet are there plain intimations of it — 
what else can be said, for example of the Lord's 
words which are found in 14:2,3? — "In My Fa- 
ther's House are many mansions: if it were not so, 
I would have told you.- I go to prepare a place for 
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will 
come again, and receive you unto Myself ; that where 
I am, there ye may be also/' 

In the first three Gospels, Christ is seen connected 
with the Jews, proclaiming the Messianic kingdom, 
a proclamation which ceased, however, as soon as it 
became evident that the Nation had rejected Him. 
But here, in John's Gospel, His rejection is an- 



140 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



nounced at the beginning, for in the very first chap- 
ter we are told, "He came unto His own, and His 
own received Him not. It is, therefore, most signif- 
icant to note that John's Gospel, which instead of 
presenting Christ in connection with Israel, views 
Him as related to believers by spiritual ties, was not 
written until after A. D. 70, when the Temple was 
destroyed, and the Jews dispersed throughout the 
world ! 

The dispensational limitations which attach to 
much that is found in the first three Gospels, do not 
hold good with John's Gospel, for as Son of God, He 
can be known only by believers as such. On this 
plane the Jew has no priority. The Jews' claim up- 
on Christ was purely a fleshly one, whereas believ- 
ers are related to the Son of God by spiritual union. 
The Son of David, and the Son of Man titles link 
Christ to the earth, but the "Son of God" connects 
Him with the Father in Heaven; hence, in this 
fourth Gospel, the earthly kingdom is almost entire- 
ly ignored. In harmony with these facts we may 
observe, that it is only here in John's Gospel we hear 
of Christ saying, "And other sheep I have, which 
are not of this (i. e., the Jewish) fold. Them also I 
must bring, and they shall hear My voice ; and there 
shall be one fold (i. e., the Christian fold), and one 
Shepherd" (10:16). It is only here in John we 
learn of the wider scope of God's purpose in the 
Death of His Son, "Being high priest that year, he 
prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; 
And not for that nation only, but that also He 
should gather together in one the children of God 
that were scattered abroad" (11:51,52). It is only 
here in John that we have fully unfolded the rela- 
tion of the Holy Spirit to believers. And it is only 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



141 



here in John that we have recorded our Lord's High 
Priestly prayer, which gives a sample of His present 
intercession on high. These considerations, then, 
should make it abundantly clear that the dispensa- 
tional bearings of John's Gospel are entirely differ- 
ent from the other three. 

Coming now to a closer view of this fourth Gos- 
pel we may observe how striking are its opening 
verses: "In the beginning was the Word, and the 
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The 
same was in the beginning with God. All things were 
made by Him ; and without Him was not anything 
made that was made" (1:1-3). How entirely dif- 
ferent is this from what we find in the introductory 
statements in the other Gospels 1 John starts, im- 
mediately, by presenting Christ as the Son of God, 
not as the Son of David, or the Son of Man. John 
takes us back to the beginning, and shows that our 
Lord had no beginning, for He was in the begin- 
ning. John goes right back behind creation, and 
shows that Christ was Himself the Creator. 

Every clause in these opening verses is worthy of 
our closest attention. First, the Lord Jesus is here 
termed, "The Word/' The significance of this title 
may, perhaps, be most easily grasped by comparing 
with it what is said in v. 18 of this first chapter of 
John. Here we are told: "No man hath seen God 
at any time; the Only Begotten Son, which is in the 
bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him,'' or 
"told Him out." Christ is the One who came here 
to tell out God. He came here to make God intel- 
ligible to men. As we read in Heb. 1: "God, who 
at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time 
past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these 
last days spoken unto as by His Son/' Christ is the 



142 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



final Spokesman of God. Again; the force of this 
title of Christ, "the Word/ 7 may be discovered by 
comparing it with the name given to the Bible — the 
Word of God. What are the Scriptures? They are, 
the Word of God. And what does that mean? This: 
that the Scriptures reveal God's mind, express His 
will, make known His perfections, and lay bare His 
heart. This is precisely what the Lord Jesus Christ 
has done for the Father. But let us enter a little 
more into detail: 

(a) A "word" is a medium of manifestation. I 
have in my mind a thought, but others know not its 
nature. But the moment I clothe that thought in 
words, it becomes cognizable. Words, then, make 
objective, unseen thoughts. This is precisely what 
the Lord Jesus has done, as the "Word" Christ has 
made manifest the invisible God. Christ is God 
clothed in perfect humanity. 

(b) A "word" is a means of communication. By 
means of words I transmit information to others. 
By words I express myself, make known my will, 
and impart knowledge. So, Christ as the "Word," 
is the Divine Transmitter, communicating to us the 
Life and Love of God. 

(c) A "word" is a method of revelation. By his 
words a speaker reveals both his intellectual caliber 
and his moral character. It is by our words we shall 
be justified, and by our words we shall be con- 
demned. And Christ, as the "Word," fully reveals 
the attributes and the character of God. How fully 
He has revealed God! He has displayed His pow- 
er: He has manifested His wisdom: He has exhibit- 
ed His holiness: He has made known His grace: He 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



143 



has unveiled His heart. In Christ, and nowhere 
else, is God fully and finally revealed. 

But was not God fully revealed in Nature? "Re- 
vealed," yes; but "fully revealed/' no. Nature con- 
ceals as well as reveals. Nature is under the Curse, 
and is far different now from what it was in the day 
that it left the hands of the Creator. Nature is im- 
perfect to day, and how can that which is imperfect 
be a perfect medium for manifesting the infinite 
perfections of God. The ancients had Nature be- 
fore them, and what did they learn of God? Let 
that altar, which the apostle beheld in one of the 
great centers of ancient culture and learning, make 
answer — "To the unknown God/' is what he found 
inscribed thereon. No; in Christ, and in and by 
Him alone, is God fully and finally revealed. 

But lest this figurative expression — "the Word" — 
should convey to us an inadequate conception of the 
Divine person of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit 
goes on to say, in the opening verse of this Gospel, 
"And the Word was with God/' This denotes His 
separate Personality, and also indicates His essential 
relation to the Godhead. He was not "in God," as 
an Ideal in His mind, but He was "with God." And, 
as though this were not strong enough, the Spirit 
expressly adds, "And the Word was God!' Not an 
emanation from God, but none other than God. 
Not merely a manifestation of God, but God Him- 
self made manifest. Not only the Revealer of God, 
but God Himself revealed. A more unequivocal af- 
firmation of the essential Deity of the Lord Jesus 
Christ it is impossible to imagine. Granted, that we 
are in the realm of mystery, yet, the force of what 
is here affirmed of the absolute Godhead of Christ 
cannot be honestly evaded. As to how Christ can be 



144 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



the Revealer of God, and yet God Himself revealed; 
as to how He can be "with God," and yet be God, 
are high mysteries that our finite minds are no more 
capable of fathoming than we can understand how 
that God can be without beginning. What is here 
stated in John 1:1, is to be received by simple, un- 
questioning faith. 

Next we read, "All things were made by Him; 
and without Him (apart from Him) was not any- 
thing made that was made" (1:3). Here, again, 
the absolute Deity of Christ is emphatically affirmed, 
for Creation is ascribed to Him, and none but God 
can create. Man, despite all his proud boasts and 
lofty pretentions, is utterly unable to create even a 
blade of grass. If, then, Christ is the Creator, He 
must be God. Observe, too, that the whole of Cre- 
ation is here attributed to the Son of God — "all 
things were made by Him." This would not be 
true, if He were Himself a creature, even though the 
first and highest. But nothing is excepted — "all 
things were made by Him." Just as He was Eter- 
nal — before all things — so was He the Originator of 
all things. 

Again we are told, "In Him was life; and the life 
was the Light of men." This follows, necessarily, 
from what has been said in the previous verse. If 
Christ created all things, He must be the Fount of 
life. He is the Life-Giver. But more: "The Life 
was the light of men." What this means is made 
clear in the verses that follow. "There was a man 
(in contrast from "the Word," who is God) sent 
from God, whose name was John," and he, "Came 
for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all 
through him might believe" (1:6,7). Compare 
with these words what we are told in 1 John 1 :5, 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS 1 



145 



"God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 
The conclusion, then, is irrisistible, that the Lord 
Jesus is none other than God, the Second Person in 
the Holy Trinity. 

But we pass now to the fourteenth verse of this 
opening chapter of John. Having shown the rela- 
tion of our Lord to Time — without beginning; hav- 
ing declared His relation to the Godhead — a separate 
Person of the Trinity, but Himself also God; hav- 
ing defined His relation to the Universe — the Cre- 
ator of it, and the great Life-Giver: having stated 
His relation to Men — the One who is their God, 
their "Light/' having announced that the Baptist 
bore witness to Him as the Light ; and having de- 
scribed the reception which He met with here upon 
earth — unknown by the world, rejected by Israel, 
but received by a people who were "born of God," 
the Holy Spirit goes on to say, "And the Word was 
made (better, "became") flesh, and dwelt (taber- 
nacled) among us. and we beheld His glory, the 
glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full 
of grace and truth." This verse announces the Di- 
vine incarnation, and brings out. once more, the 
Divine glories of the One born of Mary. 

"The Word became flesh." He became what He 
was not previously. He did not cea^e to be God, but 
He became Man. Becoming Man, He "tabernacled" 
among men. He pitched His tent here for thirty- 
three years. And then we are told that the testi- 
mony of those whose eyes Divine power had opened, 
was, "we beheld His glory/' The language of this 
verse takes us back in thought to the Tabernacle 
which was pitched in the wilderness, of old. The Tab- 
ernacle was the place of Jehovah's abode in the midst 
of Israel. It was there that He made His dwelling-place. 



146 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



The Tabernacle was where God met with His people, 
hence was it termed "the Tent of Meeting." There, 
within the Holy of Holies was the Shekinah Glory 
manifested. The Lord Jesus Christ was the Anti- 
type. He was, in His own person, the Meeting-place 
between God and men. And just as the Shekinah — 
the visible and glorious manifestation of Jehovah — 
was seen in the Holy of Holies, so those who came 
near to Christ, in faith, "beheld His glory/' The 
Lord Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, display- 
ing "the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Fa- 
ther." For, as the 18th verse goes on to say, "No 
man hath seen God at any time ; the Only Begotten 
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath 
declared Him." Thus, the essential Deity of the One 
born at Bethlehem is, once more, expressly affirmed. 

Next we have the witness of John the Baptist. 
This is quite different from what we find in the 
other Gospels. Here there is no Call to Repentance, 
there is no announcement of "The kingdom of 
heaven" being at hand, and there is no mention of 
Christ Himself being baptized by His forerunner. 
Instead of these things, here we find John saying, 
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the 
sin of the world" (1:29). And again he says, "And 
I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" 
(1:34). It is also to be noted that when referring 
to the anointing of Christ with the Holy Spirit, a 
word is used which is not found in the other Gos- 
pels: "And John bare record, saying, I saw the 
Spirit descending from Heaven like a dove, and it 
abode upon Him" (1:32). The Spirit did not come 
upon Him and then leave again, as with the proph- 
ets of old: it "abode," a characteristic and prominent 
word in John's Gospel (see particularly chapter 15) , 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 147 



having to do with the Divine side of things, and 
speaking of Fellowship. We have the same word 
again in 14:10 — "Believest thou not that I am in 
the Father, and the Father in Me? the words that 
I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the 
Father that dwelleth ("abideth" it should be) in 
Me, He doeth the works/' 

The first chapter closes by describing the personal 
Call (not the ministerial call as in the other Gos- 
pels) of the first disciples of the Lord. Here only 
do we read of Christ saying to Nathaniel, "Before 
that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the 
fig tree, I saw thee" (1:48) : thus manifesting His 
Omniscience. Here only do we find recorded Na- 
thaniel's witness to Christ. "Rabbi, Thou art the 
Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel" (1:49). 
And here only did Christ tell His disciples that, in 
the coming Day they should "see Heaven open, and 
the angels of God ascending and descending on the 
Son of Man" (1:51). 

Coming now to the second chapter, we find de- 
scribed there the first miracle performed by the Lord 
Jesus, namely, the turning of the water into wine. 
John alone records this, for only God can fill the 
human heart with that Divine joy, of which the 
wine was here the emblem. In this miracle we are 
shown the "W ord" at work. He, Himself, did noth- 
ing. He simply told the servants what to do, and at 
His word the wonder was performed. The special 
point in connection with this miracle is stated in 
v. 11, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana 
of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His 
disciples believed on Him." 

In the remainder of this chapter we witness Christ 
cleansing the Temple. Here, again, John brings 



148 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



into the picture his own distinctive lines. Here only 
do we find the Lord terming the Temple "My Fa- 
ther's house" (v. 16). Here only do we find Him 
saying, in reply to the challenge of His critics for a 
sign, "Destroy this temple (meaning His body), 
and in three days / will raise it up" (v. 19). And, 
here only do we read, "Now when He was in Jeru- 
salem at the Passover, in the feast, many believed 
in His name, when they saw the miracles which 
He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself unto 
them, because He knew all, and needed not that any 
should testify of man: for He knew what was in 
man" (vv. 23-25). What a proof was this of His 
Deity I Only He "knew what was in man." Com- 
pare with this the words of 1 Kings 8 :39 — "Hear 
Thou in Heaven Thy dwelling place, and forgive, 
and do, and give to every man according to his 
ways, whose heart Thou knowest — for Thou, even 
Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of 
men." In thus reading the hearts of men, what a 
demonstration did the Saviour give, that He was 
God manifest in flesh ! 

John 3 records the interview of Nicodemus with 
Christ — something not found in the other three 
Gospels. In full accord with the scope of this Gos- 
pel, we find the Saviour here speaking to Nicodemus 
not of faith or repentance, but of the New Birth, 
which is the Divine side in salvation, declaring that, 
"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." And only here in the four Gos- 
pels do we read, "God so loved the world, that He 
gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth in Him should not perish, but have everlast- 
ing life" (3:16). 

In John 4 we find another incident that is not 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



149 



described elsewhere, namely, the Lord's dealings 
with the poor Samaritan adulteress. And here, once 
more, we behold flashes of His Divine glory shining 
forth. He tells her, "Whosoever drinketh of the 
water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but 
the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well 
of water springing up into everlasting life" (v. 14). 
He manifests His omniscience by declaring, "Thou 
hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now 
hast is not thy husband" (v. 18). He speaks to her 
of worshipping the Father a in spirit and in truth." 
He reveals Himself to her as the great "'I am" (v. 
26). He brings her from death unto life, and out 
of darkness into His own marvellous light. Final- 
ly, He proved His oneness with the Father by affirm- 
ing, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent 
Me, and to finish His work" (4:34). 

John 5 opens by recording the healing of the im- 
potent man who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 
None of the other Evangelists make mention of it. 
This miracle evidenced "'the Word" at work again. 
He does nothing to the poor sufferer, not even lay- 
ing hands upon him. He simply speaks the author- 
itative and healing word, a Rise, take up thy bed, 
and walk,"' and ''immediately," we read, "the man 
was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked" 
(v. 9). The miracle was performed on the Sab- 
bath day, and the Lord's enemies used this as an oc- 
casion of criticism. Not only so, but we read, "There- 
fore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay 
Him, because He had done these things on the Sab- 
bath day" (v. 16). We also read in the other 
Gospels, of Christ being condemned because He 
transgressed the Jews' traditions respecting the Sab- 
bath. But there, we find a very different reply from 



150 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 

Him than what is recorded here. There, He insist- 
ed on the right of performing works of mercy on the 
Sabbath. There, too, He appealed to the priests car- 
rying out their Temple duties on the Sabbath. But 
here He takes higher ground. Here, He says, "My 
Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (v. 17). The 
meaning of these words could not be mistaken. 
Christ reminded His critics, how that His "Father" 
worked on the Sabbath day, worked in connection 
with His government of the universe, in maintain- 
ing the orderly course of Nature, in sending rain, 
and so on. And because He was one with "the Fa- 
ther," He insisted that what was right for the Fa- 
ther to do, was equally right for Him to do. That 
this was the force of His reply, is clear from the 
next verse, "Therefore the Jews sought the more to 
kill Him, because He not only had broken the 
Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, 
making Himself equal with God" (5:18). In the 
remaining verses of the chapter we find that Christ 
continued to affirm His absolute equality with the 
Father. 

The sixth chapter opens by describing a miracle, 
which is narrated by each of the other Evangelists, 
the Feeding of the five thousand. But, here, it is 
followed by a lengthy discourse which is not record- 
ed elsewhere. Here the Lord presents Himself as 
"The Bread of God," which had come down from 
Heaven to give life unto the world. He here de- 
clares that He alone can satisfy the needy soul of 
man: "And Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread 
of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; 
and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst" (v. 
35). We cannot now follow the details of this won- 
derful chapter, but it will be evident to the student 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 151 



that it is the Divine side of things which is here dwelt 
upon. For example: it is here we are told that the 
Saviour said, "No man can come to Me, except the 
Father which hath sent Me drarv him" (v. 44). It 
is here we are told that "Jesus knew from the be- 
ginning who they were that believed not, and who 
should betray Him" (v. 64). And it is here we 
learn that when many of the disciples "went back 
and walked no more with Him/' and He said to the 
twelve, "Will ye also go away?" that Peter replied, 
"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words 
of eternal life' (v. 68) . 

The seventh chapter brings before us Christ at 
Jerusalem during the feast of tabernacles. There is 
much here that is of deepest interest, but it is beside 
our present purpose to give a complete exposition. 
We are not here writing a brief commentary on 
John, rather are we attempting to point out that 
which is distinctive and characteristic in this fourth 
Gospel. Notice, then, one or two lines in this scene 
which serve to emphasize the Divine glories of 
Christ. We are told that, about the middle of the 
feast, "Jesus went up into the Temple, and taught." 
His teaching must have been exceedingly impres- 
sive, for we read, "And the Jews marvelled, saying, 
How knoweth this man letters, having never learned" 
(v. 15). But, arresting as was His manner of de- 
livery, what He said only served to bring out the 
enmity of those who heard Him: "Then they sought 
to take Him: but no man laid hands on Him, be- 
cause His hour was not yet come" (v. 30). How 
striking this is, and how thoroughly in accord with 
the central theme of John's Gospel! bringing out, 
as it does, the Divine side, by showing us God's 
complete control over the enemies of His Son. Next, 



152 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



we read "In the last day, that great day of the feast, 
Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let 
him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth 
on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly 
shall flow rivers of living water" (w. 37, 38) . How 
this brings out the Divine sufficiency of Christ! 
None but God could make such a claim as that. 
Finally, we may observe here, that when the Phari- 
sees heard that many of the people believed on Him, 
they "sent officers to take Him" (vv. 31, 32). How 
striking was the sequel: "Then came the officers to 
the chief priests and Pharisees ; and they said unto 
them, Why have ye not brought Him? The officers 
answered, Never man spake like this Man" (w. 45, 
46). 

John 8 opens by recording the incident of the 
woman taken in adultery, brought to Christ by the 
scribes and Pharisees. Their motive in doing this 
was an evil one. It was not that they were zealous of 
upholding the claims of God's law, but that they 
sought to ensnare God's Son. They set a trap for 
Him. They reminded Him that Moses had given 
commandment that such as this woman should be 
stoned — "but what sayest Thou?" they asked. He 
had declared that, "God sent not His Son into the 
world to condemn the world; but that the world 
through Him might be saved" (John 3:17). Would 
He, then, suffer this guilty adulteress to escape the 
penalty of the Law? If so, what became of His 
other claim, "Think not that I am come to destroy 
the Law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, 
but to fulfil" (Matt. 5:17)? It seemed as though 
He was caught on the horns of a dilemma. If He 
gave the word for her to be stoned, where was grace? 
On the other hand, if He allowed her to go free, 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



153 



where was righteousness? Ah, how blessedly did 
His Divine wisdom appear, in the masterly manner 
in which He dealt with the situation. Said He to 
them that sought to trap Him, "He that is without 
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." It 
was "the Word" at work again, the Divine Word, 
for we read, "And they which heard Him, being 
convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, 
beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Je- 
sus was left alone, and the woman standing in the 
midst" (v. 9). The way was now open for Him to 
display His mercy. The Law required two "wit- 
nesses" at least; but none were left. To the woman 
He said, "Where are those thine accusers? hath no 
man condemned thee?" And she answered, "No 
man, Lord." And then, to manifest His holiness 
He said, "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin 
no more" (v. 11). Thus, do we here behold His 
glory, "the glory as of the Only Begotten of the 
Father, full of grace and truth." Then followed that 
lovely discourse in which Christ proclaimed Him- 
self as "The Light of the world," saying, "he that 
followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
have the light of life" (v. 12). This was peculiar- 
ly appropriate to the occasion, for He had just given 
proof that He was such, by turning the searching 
Light of God upon the conscience of those who ac- 
cused the adulteress. 

What follows in the next chapter is closely linked 
to that which has just been before us. Here Christ 
gives sight to a man who had been blind from his 
birth, and immediately before He gives light to the 
darkened eyes of this man, He uses the occasion to 
say, again, "As long as I am in the world, I am 
the light of the world" (9 :5) . The sequel to this mir- 



154 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



acle had both its pathetic and its blessed sides. The 
one who had had his eyes opened was brought to the 
Pharisees, and after a lengthy examination they ex- 
communicated him, because of the bold testimony 
he had borne to his Benefactor. But we are told, 
" Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when 
He had found Him, He said unto him, Dost thou 
believe on the Son of God? And he answered and 
said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on Him? 
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, 
and He it is that talketh with thee. And he said, 
Lord, I believe. And he worshipped Him" (vv. 
35-37). Thus did Christ graciously evidence that 
when God begins a good work in a soul, He ceases 
not until it has been perfected. The chapter closes 
with a most solemn word against those who opposed 
Christ, in which we behold the Light blinding: 
' r And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this 
world, that they which see not might see; and that 
they which see might be made blind" (v. 39). 

John 10 is the chapter in which Christ is revealed 
as the Good Shepherd, and there is much in it 
which brings out His Divine glories. Here He pre- 
sents Himself as the Owner of the fold, and makes 
it known that believers, under the figure of sheep, 
belong to Him. They are His property, as well as 
the objects of His tender solicitude. They know 
Him, and they are known of Him. His, is the 
Voice they follow, and the voice of strangers they 
heed not. For the sheep He will lay down His life. 
But, be it carefully noted, the Saviour declares, "No 
man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. 
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to 
take it again" (v. 18). No mere man could have 
made good such a claim as this. Nor could any mere 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



155 



human teacher say to his disciples, "And I give un- 
to them eternal life; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any pluck them out of My hand' 7 (v. 
28). That He was more than Man, that He was God 
the Son, incarnate, is expressly affirmed in the 
words with which the Saviour here closed His dis- 
course — "I and Father are one" (v. 30) . 

John 11 brings us to what, perhaps, was the most 
wonderful miracle that our Lord performed, while 
here on earth, namely, the Raising of Lazarus. Rec- 
ord of this was, appropriately, reserved for the 
fourth Gospel. The others tell us of the raising of 
the daughter of Jairus, just dead; and Luke men- 
tions the raising of the widow of Nain's son, as his 
body was on the way to the cemetery ; but John only 
records the raising of Lazarus, who had been in the 
grave four days, and whose body had already be- 
gun to corrupt. Signally did the performance of 
this miracle demonstrate Christ to be the Son of God. 
Here, too, we behold "the Word" at work. The 
daughter of Jairus He took by the hand ; concerning 
the widow's son, we read, "He touched the bier ;" but 
here He did nothing but speak: first, to the specta- 
tors to remove the stone which lay over the entrance 
to the grave, and then to Lazarus, He cried, "Come 
forth." 

John 12 brings us to the close of our Lord's pub- 
lic ministry as it is followed in this Gospel. The 
chapter opens with a scene which has won the hearts 
of all who have gazed by faith upon it. The Sa- 
viour is seen in a Bethany home, where deep grati- 
tude made Him a supper, and Lazarus is also one of 
the guests. After the meal was over, Mary anoint- 
ed His feet with fragrant ointment that was "very 
costly/' and wiped His feet with her hair. It is 



156 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



very striking to notice the differences between Mat- 
thew's account of this incident and what is recorded 
here. It is only John who tells us that Lazarus sat 
at the table with the Lord ; it is only John who says 
that "Martha served/' and it is only John who gives 
the name of this devoted woman who expressed such 
love for Christ: here everything is "made manifest" 
by the Light. Moreover, note particularly, that Mat- 
thew says the woman poured the ointment "on His 
head" (26:7), but here in John, we are told, she 
"anointed the feet of Jesus" (12:3). The two ac- 
counts are not contradictory, but supplementary. 
Both are true, but we see the hand of the Holy 
Spirit controlling each Evangelist to record only that 
which was in keeping with his theme. In Matthew 
it is the King who is before us, hence it is His "head" 
that is anointed; but in John we are shown the Son 
of God, and therefore does Mary here take her place 
at His "feef! 

John 13 is in striking contrast with what is found 
at the beginning of the previous chapter. There, we 
behold the feet of the Lord; here we see the feet of 
His disciples. There, we saw His feet anointed; 
here, the feet of the disciples are washed. There, the 
feet of Christ were anointed with fragrant and cost- 
ly ointment; here the feet of the disciples are washed 
with water. There, the feet of the Lord was washed 
by another; but here, the feet of the disciples are 
washed by none other than the Son of God Him- 
self. And observe that the anointing of His feet 
comes before the washing of the disciples' feet, for 
in all things He must have the pre-eminence. And 
what a contrast is here presented! The "feet" speak 
of the walk. The feet of the disciples were soiled: 
their walk needed to be cleansed. Not so with the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



157 



Lord of glory : His walk emitted nought but a sweet 
fragrance to the Father. 

At first sight it appears strange that this lowly 
task of washing the disciples' feet should be record- 
ed by John. And yet the very fact that it is re- 
corded here supplies the surest key to the interpre- 
tation of its significance. The act itself only brought 
out the amazing condescension of the Son of God, 
who w T ould stoop so low as to perform the common 
duties of a slave. But the mention of this incident 
by John indicates there is a spiritual meaning to the 
act. And such, indeed, there was. The "feet," as 
we have seen, point to the walk, and "water" is the 
well known emblem of the written Word. Spirit- 
ually, the act spoke of Christ maintaining the walk 
of His disciples, removing the defilements which un- 
fit them for communion with a holy God. It was 
members of His Church that were here being 
cleansed by the Head "with the washing of water by 
the Word" (Eph. 5:26). How fitting, then, that 
this should have found a place in this fourth Gos- 
pel, for who but a Divine Person is capable of cleans- 
ing the walk of believers and maintaining their fel- 
lowship with the Father! 

In the remainder of John 13 and to the end of 
chapter 16 we have what is known as the Lord's 
"Pascal discourse." This, too, is peculiar to John, 
and almost everything in it brings out the Divine 
glories of the Saviour. It is here that He says to the 
disciples, "Ye call Me Master and Lord: and ye say 
well; for so I am" (13:13). It is here that Christ 
said, anticipating the Cross, "Now is the Son of 
Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him" (13: 
31). It is here that He speaks of going away to 
"prepare a place" for His people (14:2,3). It is 



158 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



here He invites His disciples to pray in His name 
(14:13). It is here He says, "Peace I leave with 
you, My peace I give unto you : not as the world giv- 
eth, give I unto you" (14:27). It is here that He 
says so much about fruit-bearing, under the beauti- 
ful figure of the Vine. It is here that He speaks of 
"The Comforter whom I will send unto you from 
the Father" (15:26). And it is here that He de- 
clares of the Holy Spirit, "He shall glorify Me: for 
He shall receive of Mine, and shall show it unto 
you" (16:14). 

John 17 contains what is known as the High 
Priestly prayer of Christ. Nothing like it is found 
in the other Gospels. It gives us a specimen of His 
present ministry on High. Here we find the Sa- 
viour saying, "Father, the hour is come; glorify 
Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee" 
(v. 1). Here He speaks of Himself as the One 
given "power over all flesh" (v. 2). Here He is in- 
separably linked with "the only true God" (v. 3). 
Here He speaks (by way of anticipation) of having 
"finished" the work given Him to do (v. 4). Here 
He asks, "0 Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine 
own self with the glory which I had with Thee be- 
fore the world was" (v. 5). Here He prays for His 
own beloved people: for their preservation from evil, 
for the supply of their every need, for their sancti- 
fication and unification. His perfect equality with 
the Father is evidenced when He says, "Father, I 
will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be 
with Me where I am; that they may behold My 
glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovest 
Me before the foundation of the world" (v. 24). 

The remaining chapters will be considered in an- 
other connection, so we pass on now to notice some 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



159 



of the general features which characterize this Gos- 
pel in its parts and as a whole. 

I. Things Omitted from John's Gospel. 

While examining the second Gospel, we dwelt at 
some length upon the different things of which 
Mark took no notice, and saw that the items exclud- 
ed made manifest the perfections of his particular 
portrayal of Christ. Here, too, a similar, line of 
thought may be followed out at even greater length. 
Much that is found in the first three Gospels is omit- 
ted by John, as being irrelevant to his special theme. 
Some of the more outstanding of these we shall now 
consider : 

1. In John's Gospel there is no genealogy, neither 
His legal through Joseph, nor his personal through 
Mary. Nor is there any account of His birth. In- 
stead, as we have seen, He was "In the beginning." 
For a similar reason, John is silent about Herod's 
attempt to slay the Christ Child, about the flight in- 
to Egypt, and subsequent return to Galilee. Noth- 
ing is said about the Lord Jesus as a Boy of twelve, 
in the midst of the doctors in the Temple. No ref- 
erence is made to the years spent at Nazareth, and 
no hint is given of Christ working at the carpenter's 
bench before He began His public ministry. All 
these are passed over as not being germane. 

2. Here, there is no description of His baptism. 
Mark refers to the Lord Jesus being baptized by his 
forerunner, and Matthew and Luke each describe 
at length the attendant circumstances. John's rea- 
son for saying nothing about this is obvious. In 
His baptism, Christ, in condescending grace, took 
His place alongside of His needy people, saying to 



160 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



the one who baptized Him, "Thus it becometh us 
to fulfill all righteousness" (Matt. 3:15). 

3. John says nothing about the Temptation. Here, 
again, we may observe the superintending hand of 
the Holy Spirit, guiding the different Evangelists in 
the selection of their material. Each of the first three 
Gospels make mention of the season spent by Christ 
in the wilderness, where He was tempted for forty 
days of the Devil. But John is silent about it. And 
why? Because John is presenting Christ as God 
the Son, and "God cannot be tempted" (Jas. 1:13). 

4. There is no account of His Transfiguration. 
At first sight this seems strange, but a little attention 
to details will reveal the reason for this. The won- 
derful scene witnessed by the three disciples upon the 
holy mount, was not an unveiling of His Divine 
glories, but a miniature representation, a spectacular 
showing forth of the Son of Man coming in His 
kingdom (see Matt. 16:28 etc.). But the earthly 
kingdom does not fall within the scope of this Gos- 
pel. Here, it is spiritual and heavenly relationships 
which are made most prominent. 

5. Here there is no Appointing of the Apostles. 
In the other Gospels we find the Lord Jesus select- 
ing, equipping, and sending forth the Twelve, to 
preach, and to heal; and in Luke we also read of 
Him sending out the Seventy. But here, in har- 
mony with the character of this Gospel, all min- 
istry and miracle working is left entirely in the 
hands of the Son of God. 

6. Never once is Christ here seen Praying. This 
does not come out so clearly in our English transla- 
tion as it does in the original Greek. In John's 
Gospel we never find the word associated with Christ 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 161 



which signifies taking the place of a supplicant ; in- 
stead, the word "erotos" is used, and this word de- 
notes "speaking" as to an equal. It is very striking 
to compare what each Evangelist records following 
the miracle of the Feeding of the five thousand: 
Matt, says, "And when He had sent the multitudes 
away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray" 
(14:23). Mark says, "When He had sent them 
away, He departed into a mountain to pray" (6: 
46). Luke also follows his narration of this miracle 
with the words, "And it came to pass," as He was 
alone praying" (9:18). But when we come to the 
fourth Gbspel, we read, "He departed again into a 
mountain Himself alone" (6:15), and there John 
stops! 

The contents of John 17 may seem to contradict 
what we have just said above, but really it is not so. 
At the beginning of the chapter we read, "Jesus 
lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and said, Father, the 
hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also 
may glorify Thee" (v. 1). And at its close we read 
that He said, "Father I will that they also, whom 
Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am" (v. 
24). Thus He spoke to the Father as to an Equal. 

7. We never read in John's Gospel of "The Com- 
ing of the Son of Man," and for the same reason as 
this, He is never addressed as "The Son of David" 
here. The Coming of the Son of Man always has 
reference to His return to the earth itself, coming 
back to His earthly people. But here we read, not 
of a restored Palestine, but of the "Father's House" 
and its "many mansions," of Christ going on High 
to prepare a place "for His heavenly people, and of 
Him coming back to receive them unto Himself, 
that there may they be also. 



162 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



8. We never find the word "Repent" in John. In 
the other Gospels this is a term of frequent occur- 
rence; what, then, is the reason for its absence here? 
In the other Gospels the sinner is viewed as guilty, 
and needing, therefore, to "repent." But here, the 
sinner is looked upon as spiritually dead, and there- 
fore, in sore need of that which only God can im- 
part — "life' 5 ! It is here we read of man needing to 
be "born again" (3:7), needing to be "quickened" 
(5:21), and needing to be "drawn" (6:44). 

9. Neither is the word "Forgive" found in John. 
This, too, is a word often met with in the other 
Gospels. Why, then, its omission here? In Matt. 
9:6 we read, "The Son of Man hath power on earth 
to forgive sins." As Son of Man He "forgives;" as 
Son of God He bestows "'eternal life." 

10. No Parables are found in John's Gospel. This 
is a very notable omission. The key to it is found 
in Matt. 13 : "And the disciples came, and said unto 
Him, Why speakest Thou unto them in parables? 
He answered and said unto them, Because it is given 
unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of 
heaven, but to them it is not given. * * Therefore 
speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see 
not ; and hearing they hear not, neither do they un- 
derstand" (vv. 10-13). Here we learn why that 
Christ, in the later stages of His ministry, taught in 
"parables." It was to conceal from those who had 
rejected Him, what was comprehensible only to 
those who had spiritual discernment. But here in 
John, Christ is not concealing, but revealing — reveal- 
ing God. It is to be deplored that the rationale of 
our Lord's parabolic form of teaching should be 
known to so few. The popular definition of Christ's 
parables is that they were earthly stories with a 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



163 



heavenly meaning. How man gets things upside 
down ! The truth is, that His parables were heaven- 
ly stories with an earthly meaning, having to do 
with His earthly people, in earthly connections. This 
is another reason why none are found in John — the 
word in 10:6 is "proverb." 

11. In John's Gospel no mention is made of the 
Demons. Why this is we do not know. To say 
that no reference is here made to them, was, because 
mention of them would be incompatible with the 
Divine glories of Christ, hardly seems satisfactory; 
for, Satan himself is referred to here, again and 
again. It is, in fact, only here, that the Devil is 
spoken of three times over as "The prince of this 
world ;'' and, Judas, too, as the son of perdition, oc- 
cupies a more prominent position here than in the 
other Gospels. Should it be revealed to any of our 
readers why the "demons" are excluded from this 
Gospel, we shall be very glad to hear from them. 

12. There is no account of Christ's Ascension in 
this fourth Gospel. This is very striking, and by 
implication brings out clearly the Deity of the Lord 
Jesus. As God the Son He was omnipresent, and 
so, needed not to ascend. As God the Son He fills 
both heaven and earth. We turn now to, 

II. Positive Features of John's Gospel. 

1. The Titles of Christ are very significant. 

Only here (in the four Gospels) is the Lord Jesus 
revealed as "the Word" (1:1). Only here is He de- 
clared to be the Creator of all things (1:3). Only 
here is He spoken of as "The Only Begotten of the 
Father" (1:14). Only here was He hailed as "The 
Lamb of God" (1:29). Only here is He revealed as 
the great "I am." When Jehovah appeared to Moses 



164 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



at the burning bush, and commissioned him to go 
down into Egypt and demand from Pharaoh the 
release of His people Israel, Moses said, Who shall 
I say hath sent me? And God answered, "Thus 
shalt thou say unto the Children of Israel, I am hath 
sent me unto you" (Ex. 3:14). And here in John's 
Gospel Christ takes this most sacred title of Deity 
and appropriates it unto Himself, filling it out with 
sevenfold fullness: "I am the Bread of Life" (6: 
35) ; "J am the Light of the world" (9:5) ; a I am 
the Door" (10:7) ; "J am the Good Shepherd" (10: 
11) ; "I am the Resurrection and the Life" (11 :25) ; 
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (14:6) ; 
"I am the true^Vine" (15:1). 

2. The Deity of Christ is prominently revealed here. 

Christ Himself expressly affirmed it: " Verily, ver- 
ily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, 
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God: and they that hear shall live" (5:25). Again; 
" Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when 
He had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou 
believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, 
Who is He, Lord, that I might believe on Him? 
And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen Him, 
and it is He that talketh with thee" (9:35-37)> 
Once more. "His sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, 
behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus 
heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, 
but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might 
be glorified thereby" (11:3,4). Thirty-five times 
in this Gospel we find the Lord Jesus speaking of 
God as "My Father." Twenty-five times He here 
says "Verily, verily" (of a truth, of a truth) — no- 
where else found in this intensified form. 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



165 



Including His own affirmation of it, seven differ- 
ent ones avow His Deity in this Gospel. First, John 
the Baptist: "And I saw and bare record that this is 
the Son of God" (1:34). Second, Nathaniel, "Rab- 
bi, Thou art the Son of God" (1:49). Third, Pe- 
ter, " And we believe and are sure that Thou art that 
Christ, the Son of the living God" (6:69). The 
Lord Himself, "Say ye of Him, whom the Father 
hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blas- 
phemest; because I said, I am the Son of God" 
(10 :36) . Fifth, Martha, "She saith unto Him, Yea, 
Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of 
God, which should come into the world" (11:27). 
Sixth, Thomas, "And Thomas answered and said 
unto Him, My Lord and my God" (20:28). Sev- 
enth, the writer of this fourth Gospel, "These are 
written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might 
have life through His name" (20:31). 

3. There is a remarkable series of Sevens here. 

It is striking to discover how frequently this nu- 
meral is found here, and when we remember the sig- 
nificance of this numeral it is even more arresting. 
Seven is the number of perfection, and absolute per- 
fection is not found until we reach God Himself, 
How wonderful, then, that in this Gospel which sets 
forth the Deity of Christ, the number seven meets 
us at every turn! 

By seven different persons is the Deity of Christ 
confessed here, and, as we have seen, seven times 
does He fill out the ineffable "I am" title. John re- 
cords seven miracles performed by our Lord during 
His public ministry, no more and no less. Seven 
times do we read, "These things have T spoken unto 



166 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



you." Seven times did Christ address the woman 
at the well. Seven times, in John 6, did Christ 
speak of Himself as "The Bread of Life." Seven 
things we read of the Good Shepherd doing for His 
sheep, and seven things Christ says about His sheep 
in John 10. Seven times does Christ make refer- 
ence to "the hour" which was to see the accomplish- 
ment of the Work given Him to do. Seven times 
did He bid His disciples pray "in His name." Sev- 
en times is the word "hate" found in John 15. There 
are seven things enumerated in John 16:13,14 
which the Holy Spirit is to do for believers. There 
were seven things which Christ asked the Father for 
believers in John 17, and seven times over does He 
there refer to them as the Father's "gift" to Him. 
Seven times in this Gospel do we read that Christ 
declared He spoke only the Word of the Father — 
7:16; 8:28; 8:47; 12:49 ; 14:10; 14:24; 17:8. Sev- 
en times does the writer of this Gospel refer to him- 
self, without directly mentioning his own name. 
There are seven important things found in John 
which are common to all four Gospels. And so we 
might continue. Let the reader search carefully for 
himself and he will find many other examples. 

If,. Man's futile attempts on His life. 

Not only was the Christ of God "despised and re- 
jected of men," not only was He "hated without a 
cause," but His enemies repeatedly sought His life. 
This feature is noticed, briefly, by the other writers, 
but John is the only one that tells us why their ef- 
forts were futile. For example, in John 7:30 we 
read, "Then they sought to take Him: but no man 
laid hands on Him, because His hour was not yet 
come/' And again, in 8 :20 we read, "These words 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 167 



spake Jesus in the treasury, as He taught in the 
Temple: and no man laid hands on Him; for His 
hour was not yet come/' These Scriptures, in ac- 
cord with the special character of this fourth Gospel, 
bring before us the Divine side of things. They tell 
us that the events of earth transpire only according 
to the appointment of Heaven. They show that God 
is working all things after the counsel of His own 
will and according to His eternal purpose. They 
teach us that nothing is left to chance, but that when 
God's "hour" arrives that which has been decreed 
by His sovereign will, is performed. They reveal 
the fact that even His enemies are entirely subject 
to God's immediate control, and that they cannot 
make a single move without His direct permission. 

The Lord Jesus Christ was not the helpless Victim 
of an angry mob. What He suffered, He endured 
voluntarily. The enemy might roar against Him, 
and His emissaries might thirst for His blood, but 
not a thing could they do without His consent. It 
is in this Gospel we hear Him saying, "Therefore 
doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, 
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from 
Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to 
lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (10 : 
17, 18). While He hung upon the Cross, His ene- 
mies said, "He saved others; let Him save Himself, 
if He be Christ, the Chosen of God" (Luke 23:35). 
And He accepted their challenge! He saved Him- 
self not from death, but out of it; not from the 
Cross, but the Tomb. 

5. The Purpose and Scope of this Gospel 

The key to it is hung right upon the door. The 
opening verse intimates that the Deity of Christ is 



168 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



the special theme of this Gospel. The order of its 
contents is defined in 16 :28 : 1. "I came forth from 
the Father :" this may be taken as the heading for 
the Introductory portion, the first eighteen verses of 
the opening chapter; 2. "And am come into the 
world :" this may be taken as the heading for the 
first main section of this Gospel, running from 1:19 
to the end of chapter 12. 3. "Again, I leave the 
world :" this may be taken as the heading for the 
second great section of the Gospel, comprising chap- 
ters 13 to 17 inclusive, where the Lord is seen apart 
from "the world," alone with His beloved disciples. 
4. "And go to the Father:" this may be taken as 
the heading for the closing section of this Gospel, 
made up of its last four chapters, which give us the 
final scenes, preparatory to the Lord's return to His 
Father. 

The closing verses of John 20 tell us the purpose 
of this Gospel: "And many other signs truly did 
Jesus in the presence of His disciples, which are 
not written in this book. But these are written, that 
ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of God; and that believing ye might have life 
through His name." John's Gospel, then, is pe- 
culiarly suited to the unsaved. But this does not 
exhaust its scope. It is equally fitted for and writ- 
ten to believers; in fact, the opening chapter inti- 
mates it is designed specially for the saved, for in 
1:16 we read, "And of His fullness have all we re- 
ceived, and grace for grace." 

6, The Account of His Passion is remarkable. 

Here there is no glimpse given us of the Saviour's 
agony in Gethsemane: there is no crying, "If it be 
possible let this cup pass from Me," there is no 
bloody sweat, no angel appearing to strengthen Him. 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



169 



Here there is no seeking of companionship from 
His disciples in the Garden ; instead, He knows them 
only as needing His protection (see 18:8). Here 
there is no compelling of Simon to bear His cross. 
Here there is no mention of the three hours of dark- 
ness, nor is reference made to the awful cry, "My 
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Here 
there is nothing said of the spectators taunting the 
dying Saviour, and no mention is made of the in- 
sulting challenge of the rulers for Him to descend 
from the Cross and they would believe in Him. And 
here there is no word said of the Rending of the 
Veil, as the Redeemer breathed His last. How strik- 
ing is this, for in John's Gospel God is unveiled 
throughout; no need, then, for the veil to be rent 
here! John says nothing about Him eating food 
after the resurrection, for as Son of God, He needed 
it not ! 

7. Christ's dignity and majesty comes out here amid 
His humiliation. 

John is the only one that tells us that when the 
Lord's enemies came to arrest Him in the Garden 
that when He asked them "Whom seek ye?", and 
they replied, "Jesus of Nazareth," and He then pro- 
nounced the sacred "I am," they "went backward 
and fell to the ground'' (18:6). What a demonstra- 
tion of His Godhead was this ! How easily could He 
have walked away unmolested had He so pleased! 

John is the only one to speak of His coat "with- 
out seam" which the soldiers would not rend (19: 
24) . John is the only one to show us how complete- 
ly the Saviour was master of Himself — "Jesus know- 
ing that all things were now accomplished" (19: 
28). His mind was not beclouded, nor was His 



170 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



memory impaired. No; even at the close of all His 
sufferings, the whole scheme of Messianic prediction 
stood out clearly before Him. 

John is the only one of the four Evangelists to 
record the Saviour's triumphant cry, "It is finished'' 
(19:30), as he is the only one to say that after He 
had expired the soldier's "brake not His legs" (19: 
33). John is the only one to tell us of Love's race 
to the sepulcher (20:3,4). And John is the only 
one to say that the risen Saviour "breathed" on the 
disciples, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit" 
(20:22). 

The closing verse of this Gospel is in perfect keep- 
ing with its character and scope. Here, and here 
only, are we told, "And there are also many other 
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should 
be written every one, I suppose that even the world 
itself could not contain the books that should be 
written. Amen" (21:25). Thus, the last note here 
sounded is that of infinity! 



CONCLUSION 



CONCLUSION. 



/Vo^N our somewhat brief examination of the four 
If© J Gospels it has been the writer's design to 
bring before the reader that which is char- 
acteristic in each one, pointing out the various con- 
nections in which the different Evangelists view our 
Lord and Saviour. It is evident that each of the 
Gospels contemplates Him in a distinct relationship 
— Matthew as King, Mark as Servant, Luke as Son 
of Man, and John as Son of God. But while each 
Evangelist portrays the Lord Jesus in an entirely 
different viewpoint from the others, yet he does not 
altogether exclude that which is found in the re- 
maining three. God knew r that where the Scriptures 
would be translated into heathen tongues, before 
the whole Bible or even the complete New Testa- 
ment was given to different peoples, oftentimes only 
a single Gospel would be translated as a beginning, 
and therefore has the Holy Spirit seen to it that 
each Gospel presents a more or less complete setting 
forth of the manifold glories of His Son. In other 
words, He caused each writer to combine in his own 
Evangel the various lines of Truth found in the oth- 
ers, though making these subordinate to that which 
was central and peculiar to himself. 

That which is dominant in Matthew's delineation 
of the Lord Jesus is the presentation of Him as the 
Son of David, the Heir of Israel's throne, the Mes- 
siah and King of the Jews. Yet, while this is the 
outstanding feature of the first Gospel, nevertheless, 
a careful study of it will discover traces therein of 
the other offices that Christ filled. Even in Matthew 



174 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS f 



the Servant character of our Lord comes into view, 
though, in an incidental manner. It is Matthew 
who tells us that when the sons of Zebedee came 
requesting of Him that they might sit on His right 
hand and on His left in His kingdom, and that 
when the other ten apostles were moved with in- 
dignation against them. He said, "Ye know that 
the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over 
them, and that they that are great exercise au- 
thority upon them. But it shall not be so among 
you: but whosoever will be great among you, let 
him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief 
among you, let him be your servant: Even as the 
Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but 
to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" 
(20:25-28) ; and it is from this Gospel we learn that 
when He sent forth the Twelve, He warned them, 
"The disciple is not above his Master, nor the serv- 
ant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple 
that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. 
If they have called the Master of the house Beelze- 
bub, how much more shall thev call them of His 
household" (10:24, 25). 

Again; Matthew's Gospel does not hide from us 
the loivly place the Lord took as the Son of Man, 
for it is here we have recorded His word, "The foxes 
have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but 
the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head" (8 : 
20) ; as it is here we are told that when they that 
received tribute came to Peter and asked, "Doth 
your Master pay tribute?" that the Lord said to His 
disciple, "What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do 
the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of 
their own children, or of strangers? Peter said unto 
Him, Of strangers. Jesus said unto him, Then are 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



175 



the children (i. e. of kings) free. Notwithstanding, 
lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and 
cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh 
up ; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou 
shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give 
unto them, for Me and thee" (17:25-27) ! 

So, too, do the Divine glories of Christ shine forth 
on the pages of this first Gospel. It is here that we 
are told, "Behold, a virgin shall be with Child, and 
shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name 
Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with 
us" (1:23). And it is here we have recorded most 
fully Peter's notable confession, "Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God" (16:16). 

Mark's central purpose is to present Christ as 
God's perfect Workman yet, here and there, he 
gives hints that the Servant of Jehovah possessed 
other and higher glories. This second Gospel, as 
well as the first and third, record His Transfigura- 
tion upon the holy mount (9:2), and Mark also 
tells us of the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (11: 
7-10). It is here we are told that when the high 
priest asked Him, "Art Thou the Christ, the Son of 
the Blessed?" that He answered, "I am: and ye shall 
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of pow- 
er, and coming in the clouds of Heaven" (14:62). 
Thus did He bear witness to His Messianic and 
Kingly glory. 

Mark is also careful to tell us in the opening verse 
of his Gospel that Jesus Christ was "the Son of God" 
as he also informs us that the demon-possessed man 
from the tombs cried and said, "What have I to do 
with Thee. Jesus, Thou Son of the most high God?" 
(5 :7) . These things do not detract from that which 
is central in this second Gospel, but £uard the Di- 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



vine glories of Him that '"took upon Him the form 
of a servant." : 

Luke describes the Humanity of the Saviour, pic- 
tures Him as the Son of Man, and shows us the 
lowly place which He took. But while this is the 
central theme of the third Gospel, references are also 
made, here, to His higher glories. It is here we read 
that the Saviour told the people, "Behold a greater 
than Solomon is here' 7 (11:31), as it is here we also 
find Him owned as "The Son of David" (18:38). 
Luke also refers to the Transfiguration and the Tri- 
umphal Entry into Jerusalem. 

This third Gospel reveals the fact that the Sa- 
viour was more than ill an. It is here we are told 
that the angel of the Lord said unto Mary, "That 
Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be 
called the Son of God'' (1:35) ; as it is here we also 
read of the demon-possessed man crying, "What 
have we to do with Thee Jesus, Thou Son of God 
most high" (8:28) ! 

So it is with the fourth Gospel. The outstanding 
feature there is the setting forth of the Deity of 
Christ, yet a careful reading of John will also re- 
veal His Kingship as well as His Human lowliness. 
It is here we read of Andrew telling his brother Si- 
mon, "'We have found the Messiah, which is, being 
interpreted, the Christ (1:41). It is here that we 
are told Nathaniel owned our Lord as, "The King 
of Israel" (1:49). It is in this fourth Gospel we 
hear the Samaritans saying unto the converted adul- 
teress, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: 
for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that 
this is indeed the Christ (i. e., the Messiah), the Sa- 
viour of the world'' (4:42). And it is here also we 
learn that when entering Jerusalem, the people 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



177 



"took branches of palm trees, and went forth to 
meet Him, and cried, Hosanna, Blessed is The King 
of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" 
(12:13). 

In like manner, we find in John illustrations of 
our Lord's lowliness. It is in this fourth Gospel that 
we read, " Jesus therefore, being wearied with His 
journey, sat thus on the well" (4:6). It is here we 
find recorded the pathetic fact, that, "every man 
went unto his own house — Jesus went unto the 
mount of Olives' (7:53; 8:1). Every "man" had 
his "own house" to which he retired at night, but 
the Beloved of the Father was a homeless Stranger 
here! So, again, it is John who tells us, "And it 
was winter, and (being too cold out on the moun- 
tain) Jesus walked in the Temple in Solomon's 
porch" (10:22,23). Once more: it is John who 
shows us the Lord, as the perfect Man, making pro- 
vision for His widowed mother, providing her a 
home with His beloved disciple (19:26,27). 

Returning now to our central design in this book, 
we would take a look at two or three incidents found 
in all four Gospels, and comparing them carefully, 
would notice the characteristic and distinctive lines 
in each one. First, let us observe the reference which 
each Evangelist makes to John the Baptist. Mat- 
thew alone tells us that he cried, "Repent ye: for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (3:3), for Mat- 
thew is the one who presents the Lord Jesus as Is- 
rael's King and Messiah. Mark is the only one to 
tell us that those who were baptized by our Lord's 
forerunner "confessed their sins" (1:5), this being 
in accord with the ministerial character of this sec- 
ond Gospel. Luke, who dwells on human relation- 
ships, is the only writer that tells us about the par- 



ITS 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



entage of the Baptist (chap. 1), as he is the only 
one to describe in detail the various classes of people 
who came to him at the Jordan. All of these things 
are significantly omitted by John, for in this fourth 
Gospel the emphasis is placed not upon the Baptist, 
but upon the One he was sent to herald. Here only 
are we told that he "came to bear witness of the 
Light 1 ' (1:7) ; that Christ existed before him (1: 
15), though a5 a Child He was born three months 
after him : and that he testified Christ was both God's 
•'Lamb 7 ' (1:29) and God's "Son" (1:34). 

Again ; let us note what each Evangelist has said 
about the Feeding of the five thousand, and particu- 
larly the way in which this miracle is introduced. 
Matthew says, "And Jesus went forth, and saw a 
great multitude, and was moved with compassion 
toward them, and He healed their rick. And when 
it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying. 
This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send 
the multitude away, that they may go into the vil- 
lages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said 
unto them, They need not depart ; give ye them to 
eat" (14:14-16). Thus, Matthew prefaces his ac- 
count of this miracle by speaking of Christ "healing 
the sick," for this was one of the Messianic signs. 
Mark says: "And Jesus, when He came out, saw 
much people, and was moved with compassion to- 
ward them, because they were as sheep not having a 
shepherd: and He began to teach them many things. 
And when the day was now far spent, His disciples 
came unto Him, and said, This is a desert place, 
and now the time is far passed: Send them away, 
that they may go into the country round about, and 
into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they 
have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



179 



them, Give ye them to eat" (6:34-37). Instead of 
mentioning the "healing of the sick/' Mark brings 
a beautiful ministerial touch into his picture by 
telling us the Saviour was moved with compassion 
toward the people because they were "as sheep not 
having a shepherd," and then makes known how 
the perfect Servant "began to teach them many 
things/' thus ministering to them the Word of God. 
Luke tells us, "And the people, when they knew it, 
followed Him : and He received them, and spake un- 
to them of the kingdom of God, and healed them 
that had need of healing. And when the day be- 
gan to wear away, then came the twelve, and said 
unto Him, Send the multitude away, that they may 
go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, 
and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 
But He said unto them, Give ye them to eat" (Luke 
9:11-13). Here we find Human sympathy and hu- 
man want brought out, for Luke presents the great 
Physician healing, not as a Messianic sign, but heal- 
ing those "that had need of healing." Now, observe, 
how entirely different is John's method of introduc- 
ing this miracle. He says nothing about the Mes- 
sianic sign of healing, nothing about the Servant of 
God "teaching" the people, and nothing of the Son 
of Man ministering to the "need" of the sick; in- 
stead, he tells us, "When Jesus then lifted up His 
eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He 
saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that 
these may eat? And He said this to prove him: 
for He Himself KNEW what He would do" (6:5, 
6). Thus the fourth Gospel, again, brings out the 
Deity of Christ, by revealing His Omniscience. 

As another example of the characteristic differ- 
ences of each of the four Evangelists when record- 



180 WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



ing the same or a similar incident, let us take the 
Sabbath criticisms which the Saviour met with. Each 
of the Gospels make mention of Christ being con- 
demned for transgressing the traditions of the elders 
with which the Jews had cumbered the Sabbath, and 
each tells us the reply which He made to His objec- 
tors, and the arguments He used to vindicate Him- 
self. In Matt. 12 :2, 3 we read, "At that time Jesus 
went on the Sabbath day through the corn ; and His 
disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the 
ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw 
it, they said unto him, Behold, Thy disciples do that 
which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day." 
To this our Lord made answer by reminding the 
Pharisees how that David, when he was an hun- 
gered, entered the house of God and did eat the shew- 
bread, sharing it also with those that were with him. 
Then He went on to say, "Have ye not read in the 
Law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the 
temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But 
I say unto you, That in this place is One greater 
than the Temple" (Matt. 12:5,6). Mark also re- 
fers to this same incident, and records part of the 
reply which the Saviour made on this occasion (see 
2:23-28), but it is very striking to observe that he 
omits the Lord's statement that He was "Greater 
than the Temple." In Luke's Gospel there is a mir- 
acle recorded which is not found elsewhere — the 
healing of the woman who had an infirmity for 
eighteen years (Luke 13:11-13). As the sequel to 
this we are told, "And the ruler of the synagogue an- 
swered with indignation because that Jesus had 
healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, 
There are six days in which men ought to work: in 
them therefore come and be healed, and not on the 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



181 



Sabbath" (11:14). But on this occasion we find 
Christ employed an argument to vindicate Himself, 
which was thoroughly in keeping with the scope of 
this third Gospel. "The Lord then answered him, 
and said. Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you 
on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, 
and lead him away to watering? And ought not 
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom 
Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be 
loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?" (13: 
15, 16). Here the appeal was not to the Old Testa- 
ment scriptures, nor to His own Greatness, but to 
human sympathies. John records another miracle, 
not mentioned by the others, which also met with a 
similar rebuke from the Lord's foes. But here, in 
answering His critics, the Lord Jesus vindicated 
Himself by using an entirely different argument 
from those employed on other occasions, as noted by 
other Evangelists. Here we find Him replying : "My 
Father worketh hitherto, and I work" (5:17). Thus, 
we see again, the principle of selection determining 
what each Evangelist recorded. 

One more example must suffice. Let us observe 
what each Gospel says about the Arrest in the Gar- 
den. Matthew tells us, "And while He yet spake, 
lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a 
great multitude with swords and staves, from the 
chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that 
betrayed Him gave them a sign, saying, Whomso- 
ever I shall kiss, that same is He: hold Him fast. 
And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, 
Master; and kissed Him. And Jesus said unto him, 
Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, 
and laid hands on Jesus, and took Him. And, be- 
hold, one of them which was with Jesus stretched 



182 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a serv- 
ant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear. Then 
said Jesus unto him, Put up thy sword again unto 
his place: for all they that take the sword shall 
perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot 
now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give 
Me more than twelve legions of angels? But how 
then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it 
must be?" (26:47-54). Mark says: "And immedi- 
ately, while He yet spake, cometh Judas, one of the 
twelve, and with him a great multitude with swords 
and staves, from the chief priests and the scribes and 
the elders. And he that betrayed Him had given 
them a token, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that 
same is He; take Him, and lead Him away safely. 
And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to 
Him, and saith, Master, Master: and kissed Him. 
And they laid their hands on Him, and took Him. 
And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and 
smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Are ye 
come out as against a thief, with swords and with 
staves to take Me? I was daily with you in the Tem- 
ple teaching, and ve took Me not : but the Scriptures 
must be fulfilled" (14:43-49). It will be observed 
that Mark omits the fact that Christ addressed the 
traitor as "Friend" (see Ps. 41:9 — Messianic proph- 
ecy), as he also says nothing about His right to ask 
the Father for twelve legions of angels. In Luke 
we read, "And while He yet spake, behold a multi- 
tude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, 
went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss 
Him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest 
thou the Son of Man with a kiss? When they that 
were about Him, saw what would follow, they said 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS ! 



183 



unto Him, Lord, shall we smite with the sword? and 
one of them smote the servant of the high priest, 
and cut off his right ear. Then Jesus answered and 
said, Suffer ye thus far. And He touched his ear, 
and healed him. Then Jesus said unto the chief 
priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, 
which were come unto Him, Be ye come out, as 
against a thief, with swords, and staves? When I 
was daily with you in the Temple, ye stretched forth 
no hands against Me, but this is your hour, and the 
power of darkness 7 ' (Luke 22:47-53). Luke is the 
only one to record Christ's touching but searching 
question to Judas, as he is the only one to tell us of 
Christ healing the ear of the high priest's servant. 
Entirely different is John's account. In 18:3 we read, 
"Judas then, having received a band of men and 
officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh 
thither with lanterns and torches and weapons.'' But 
here only is it added, "Jesus therefore, knowing all 
things that should come upon Him, went forth, and 
said unto them, Whom seek ye. They answered Him, 
Jesus of Nazareth." Here only are we told. ''Jesus 
said unto them, I am. And Judas also, which be- 
trayed Him, stood with them. As soon then as He 
had said unto them, I am, they went backward, and 
fell to the ground'' (18:5.6). Here only do we 
read, "If therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way: 
that the saying might be fulfilled, which He spake. 
Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none'' 
(18:8,9). And here only are we told that the 
Lord said to the disciple who had cut off the ear of 
the priest's servant, "Put up thy sword into the 
sheath: the cup which My Father hath given Me, 
shall I not drink it?" (John 18:11). 

In closing, we would call attention to one other 



184 



WHY FOUR GOSPELS? 



feature of the Gospels, that has often been noticed 
by others, and that is, what is found in the closing 
portions of the respective Gospels. There is a strik- 
ing and climactic order observed. At the close of 
Matthew's Gospel, we read of the Resurrection of 
Christ (28:1-8). At the close of Mark's Gospel, we 
read of the Ascension of Christ (16:19). At the 
close of Luke's Gospel, we hear of the Coming of the 
Holy Spirit (24:49). While at the close of John's 
Gospel, reference is made to the Return of Christ 
(21:21-23)! May that Day soon dawn when He 
shall come again to receive us unto Himself, and in 
the little interval that yet awaits, may we study His 
Word more diligently and obey its precepts more 
carefully. 



THE REDEEMER'S RETURN 

By ARTHUR W. PINK, Author of "The Sovereignty of God," 
"The Divine Inspiration of the Bible," "Satan 
and His Gospel," etc., etc. 



Cloth, $1.50 postpaid. 

THE REDEEMER'S 
RETURN gives a com- 
plete and systematic set- 
ting forth of this most im- 
portant and timely subject 
of the Second Coming of 
Christ. It contains in full 
ten lectures which Mr. 
Pink has delivered before 
numerous audiences i n 
both England and America, 
size sM x 7K in. 405 pages. The contents are : 



Introduction 

The NEED of the Redeemer's Return 

The HOPE of the Redeemer's Return 

The FACT of the Redeemer's Return 

The TIME of the Redeemer's Return 

The IMMINENCY of the Redeemer's Return 

The SIGNS of the Redeemer's Return 

The BENEFICIARIES of the Redeemer's Return 

The CHURCHWARD RESULTS of the Redeemer's Return 

The WORLDWARD RESULTS of the Redeemer's Return 

The CONSUMMATION of the Redeemer's Return 

Conclusion 

Appendix 

Such questions as the controversy between Pre and Post Millennial- 
ism, the Church and the Tribulation, who will participate in the Rap- 
ture, etc., are dealt with at length. The prophecies concerning the 
restoration of Israel, the person and career of the Antichrist, the battle 
of Armageddon, the Millennium, etc., are examined in detail. Over 
five hundred Scriptures are expounded and tabulated. 

"The discussions are marked by great soberness of presentation, real 
Scriptural insight, true spiritual experience, and constant practical ap- 
plication. As a guide to the Scriptural presentation of the subject, 
this is one of the best books available, and is deserving of wide circula- 
tion and careful attention." — The Sunday School Times. 

The Redeemer's Return will be found to contain food for thought for 
those who are more advanced in the study of prophecy, as well as help 
for the saints generally. We heartily commend this work from Mr. 
Pink's pen. Buy it. Read it. Recommend it to your friends. 

Published by 

BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT, SWENGEL, PA. 





5^4 x 8 in. 330 pages. 



THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD 

By ARTHUR W. PINK, author of "The Redeemer's Return," etc., etc. 

Cloth $1.50 Postpaid 

(New and enlarged edition) 
For whom did Christ die? 
Has His purpose been defeated? 
Will the "last day" witness a defeated Saviour, or 
will He '"see of the travail of His soul and be 
satisfied" ? 

Is the Holy Spirit trying to bring the world to 
Christ? If so (and He is omnipotent), how can 
we account for His failure? If He is not trying 
to bring the world to Christ, what then is His 
real mission in the earth? 
To what extent is God governing the world? 
Are earthquakes, tornadoes, etc., sent by God, or 
are they the outworking of impersonal laws of 
nature? 

Could God have prevented this last great war? If 
so, why not? Why did He delay in bringing 
about its termination? 
All the above questions are summarized in this; Is 
God really Almighty, and is He doing according 
to His will in the army of heaven and among 
the inhabitants of the earth? 
These are some of the questions Mr. Pink answers 
in his admirable and timely work, The Sover- 
eignty of God— answers by showing that God is on the throne, that the helm 
is in His hands, and that He is working "all things after the counsel of His 
own will" (Eph. 1:11): and that because God is God He does as He pleases, 
only as He pleases, and always as He pleases. The author also shows that not 
only is God governing the world in general, but also our individual lives in 
particular: that there are no accidents, but that everything is designed and con- 
trolled by the omnipotent hand of God. 
An attentive reader will have his faith strengthened, his soul fed, and his grati- 
tude deepened. The author has dealt with this difficult subject in a lucid manner, 
and has shown it to be deeply important and intensely practical. 

THE DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE Arthur W. Pink 
New edition. Paper 35c ; cloth $1.00, postpaid. 

"A strong book that will help you from many 
angles to meet squarely the present-day attacks 
upon the Scriptures as the very Word of God. A 
book that will greatly help to clarify the convic- 
tions of Bible students, and to strengthen faith 
in the Divine character of the Bible." — Sunday 
School Times. 

Mr. R. E. Neighbour, author of "Folly of Fed- 
eration," "Pre and Post Millennium," etc., says: 
"Mr. Pink's new book surpasses all similar treat- 
ises I have read . . . old truths are presented in so 
virile and fascinating a way that the wonderful 
Word of God is made to scintillate with a light di- 
vine. . . . All should read it . . . they will find 
they have been feasting on the finest of the 
wheat." 

"I have read Mr. Pink's work, 'The Divine In- 
spiration of the Scriptures/ and as a result find 
myself more in love with the Holy Scriptures 
than ever before. He proves convincingly from 
the Scriptures themselves that they are indeed 
the living words of God. . . . This illuminating 
volume will wonderfully help in clearing away 
the mists of infidelity and higher criticism. I 
commend it heartily." — Dr. G. B. Edwards, 
Laceyville, Pa. 

"I think it just such a book as is greatly needed now — a positive defense of the 
truth. It is clearly and forcefully written. I have also found it fascinating read- 
; ng ."_W. H. Ferris, Elmira, N. Y. 

Published bv BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT, S WEN GEL, PA. 




5x754 in. 146 pages 



BY ARTHUR W. PINK 



THE SEVEN SAYINGS OF THE SAVIOUR ON THE CROSS. 

This new work of Mr. Pink is fully up to the high level of all his 
other productions. The author shows how marvelously full are the words 
of the dying Saviour. He calls attention to seven different sides of 
each separate •"Saying". He shows how these Seven Words of Christ 
not only reveal His own personal excellencies, but also set forth the 
Gospel of our Salvation, as well as interpret the purpose, the meaning, 
and the sufficiency of the Death Divine. Mr. Pink brings out much 
that is new as well as that which though old never grows old. This 
book is suited alike to sinners and saints, for it not only sets forth the 
Way of Salvation but is designed to confirm the faith of those who have 
been saved. We believe a reading of this book will cause many to say 
'"God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ"'. Contents: Introduction. Chapter I. The Word of Forgiveness. 
II. The Word of Salvation. III. The Word of Affection. IV. The Word 
of Anguish. V. The Word of Suffering. VI. The Word of Victory. VII. 
The Word of Contentment. 

Just published. 167 pages. Cloth, $1.25 postpaid. 

SATAN AND HIS GOSPEL. 

A forceful but simple setting forth of the teaching of the Word of 
God regarding mankind's greatest enemy — Satan. Especially helpful to 
young Christians, though it should be read by all. Seven chapters on 
Satan's Personality, Origin, Fail, Work, Doom, etc. Mr. R. E. Neigh- 
bour, author of "Folly of Federation", '"Glories of Grace", etc., says: 
'"This book by Mr. Pink is true to the Word. Many today are ignorant 
of Satan and his devices, but Mr. Pink, with homiletical clearness, and 
Scriptural exactness, sets forth what God tells us in His Word about 
the great Adversary of our souls. The book covers a wide scope of teach- 
ing, but takes its name from one of the chapters called 'the Gospel 
of Satan'. This chapter alone is well worth the value of the whole book, 
and should be carefully and prayerfully read and digested." 
Attractive cover in two colors. 68 pages. 20 cents. 

PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRITUALISM. 

Shows the evil nature and awful tendencies of this fearful delusion. 
The follies and fallacies of Spiritualism are shown under five headings, 
and four principal reasons are given why it should be shunned. If you 
wish to open the eyes of others get this booklet. 5 cents. 

SINS OF THE SAINTS. 

This booklet shows from the Scriptures that a "saint" (a believer 
in the Lord Jesus Christ) can and does sin, but that he does not thereby 
forfeit his eternal life, etc. The consequences and results of a believer's 
sinning are treated in a twofold way; ist, negatively under five heads; 
2nd, positively under seven heads. Treats briefly but conclusively of 
the believer's security in Christ. We highly commend this little booklet 
to the careful and prayerful consideration of the Lord's people. Many 
have been greatly helped by its timely message. Bound in attractive 
cover in two colors. 3^x6 in. S cents. 

A THREEFOLD SALVATION. 

Past, Present and Future. A helpful pamphlet making clear the 
teaching of Scripture regarding our "'great salvation" in its three 
aspects. Greatly needed by the Lord's people in these last days — especial- 
ly by young converts. Neatly bound. 7 cents. 



Published by 



BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT, Swengel, Pa. 



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Mar 11, 2014 








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